The Circle of War
by Might is Right
Summary: Hyde didnt expect to find a cursed artifact. He didnt expect to meet a mysterious young woman either. But he did and Hyde was sucked into a battle between the royal family and the citizens of the world. Find the secret to the artifact. And do it fast. OCs
1. Chapter 1

**Uh, if you guys want to know why I am making a NEW story instead of working on The Last Nightmare Mage, well its because this side project/ mysterious thing needs to be given out. And im working on a project right now so I cant really spend time working complex story plots out. Now, take into mind that this isn't just any ORDINARY side project. This could become the new series for Fairy Tail. **

**School is just not allowing me to think all that much and I really cant update anything besides this chapter mainly because of the project I am working on right now. Finding songs about freedom is tough… But, I still give you this at least for now. Anyways, this might be an OC story but we have to see what kind of OCs I get. This is not a direct sequel to Story of Silence. Takes place 150 years after the last story and lets go from there.**

_Events so far: The Garlan Consulate has ruled effectively over the people of Fiore and the people are happy. Peace has once been restored. After Sara died, she left behind a young but capable son, Darius. Darius was a king like Sara, kind, caring and willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good. He eventually died at the incredibly young age of 30 and left his son, Adrian on the throne. Now, the problems began. Adrian was like his ancestors, kind hearted. However, he was a pagan and he didn't believe in the saints and Neutrality like the people he ruled. He didn't interfere with their business which earned him the respect and support of Illuminati. He didn't like Fairy Tail much due to their destructive ways and reduced their power considerably. He married Natasha de Grace, a noble girl from the Grace family. He soon had 2 daughters, Beatrice and Alexandria. _

_Originally, the rule of succession said that Beatrice was supposed to take the throne because she was oldest. Adrian and Natasha agreed to this rule but they didn't foresee the birth of a third child. Cyrus. He was a sickly child at birth but thanks to advanced medical science, he grew to be a brilliant young man. Then tragedy struck. In a strange accident, Beatrice and Alexandria were killed by a falling boulder and Cyrus barely managed to escape with 2 crushed legs. Cyrus's legs took much time to heal but it eventually happened. Adrian and Natasha were broken by the deaths of their 2 daughters but continued to treat Cyrus with unlimited affection. Adrian eventually decided to step down from the throne and let Cyrus rule. _

_This is the true origin of misery. Cyrus started out as a good ruler but slowly started to get worse and worse as he grew older. He was also pagan like his father and he didn't tolerate Neutrality. Cyrus renamed Arcana to Adrianople*, after his father. The people didn't care much about that. However, Cyrus soon showed his true side. On his 16__th__ birthday, he ordered the tombs of Julius Silence and his friends destroyed. That really outraged people and soon, thousands were crowding around the gates of Adrianople, demanding a reason. Cyrus responded by massacring the civilians. He eventually had 2 sons and a daughter. Otto and Bartholomew. They were just as bad as their father. His daughter however was pure much like Sara. Her name was Livia and she ventured out of the city often while her brothers feasted. _

_XX_

_Cyrus also had a strange obsession with ancient artifacts. When questioned by this, he simply said that he liked history, a blatant lie. He also hated Illuminati and Fairy Tail, completely eliminating the Illuminati district and taking it for himself and shrinking Fairy Tail's to only a few cities. His dark attitude and vicious manner earned him the nickname, Cyrus the Iron Fisted._

**Present day, the woods of Adrianople**

The sun was barely starting to rise in the great city and Hyde was running. He broke through several branches and cleared his vision as he jumped over a stone and landed on the gravel path and kept running. He was running from the soldiers. Hyde had been caught wielding a sword in the great city when only Garlan Soldiers were allowed to. He was a sword mage from Goliath and was completely innocent but the soldiers were starting to drag him towards interrogation. So he ran. He smashed through a grouping of vines and whipped behind him to see 2 light armored scouts chasing after him, moving through the woods like little squirrels. The held knives that glinted evilly in the light and Hyde didn't want to end up fighting them for a sword was too large for the woods.

"Come back! We only want to talk!" shouted the scouts from behind him.

'Yeah right.' Hyde thought as he jumped through several bushes and moved a branch out of the way.

Hyde was thankful that he had enough time to stow away his sword before taking off. Running through all these branches would have been hell if he hadn't. The sun was starting to fully rise so Hyde could see his path clearer. Up ahead was a small hill that he could easily jump. Hyde glanced behind and grinned. The scouts were still coming but at a much slower pace.

"Alright! Here we go!" he shouted as he ran full speed towards the hill and jumped.

Hyde's eyes widened in horror as he realized that this was no small hill. It was grassy but it was a sharp incline that led to a small dirt road and then another small hill after that. Hyde hit the steep side of the hill, feeling the wind and his heart slamming against his chest…and then he started to fall.

"Oh, this was a terrible idea!" Hyde screamed as he fell to his knees and quickly tumbled over, rolling in a ball over the entire hill.

The world turned into a blur as it flipped upside down and then upright again. He could hear the scouts laughing from above.

"Yosa benere**." They laughed as they turned away and ran back.

Hyde would have roared back at them but he was rolling too fast to say anything. Suddenly he saw a woman wearing a tattered grey cloak come onto the path. The hood was put up and Hyde groaned in the inside. He was going to hit her!

"GGGGGeeeetttttt out of the wwwwwaaaaayyyyyy!" he screamed as he barreled straight into the woman and they both flew into a pile of dirt and leaves at the bottom of the small hill.

Hyde felt his head shake and then cleared his vision to see the grassy hill and then he looked down at his hands. Dirty and slightly bleeding. He shook his head and then put his hand down on the ground through the leaves. His hand landed on something metal. Couldn't be his sword for it was strapped to his side. He grasped the cool metal and pulled it out of the leaves. Hyde was almost blinded by the brilliant polished silver half circle that came out of the leaves. It was a brilliantly carved piece of silver with deep lettering and several precious stones inlaid around the words. It didn't seem to be broken in any way but it was only a half circle with center of it missing. He inspected it and looked at the beautiful metal. Perhaps it was worth money…but what was this strange artifact?

**Hope you enjoyed that short prologue. **

***Adrianople is or was a real city. It was not too far from Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire.**

****Garlan for "have a nice trip".**

**Sorry about the no update thing on Last Nightmare Mage. I cant really update that right now. Sorry. FF**


	2. The Great Majesty

**Hmm, my internet seems to be down. Probably why this chapter wasn't released when it was supposed to. Anyways, this chapter we focus a little more on Cyrus and his obsession with ancient artifacts and his sons. Enjoy!**

**Adrianople, Evadeus fortress. Cyrus's room.**

The wizard council building had changed greatly since Sara had last seen it. Most of the original building was still here but many new additions had been added. Cyrus himself hadn't added anything himself but his father and his grandfather had added much. In Sara's time, a huge stone wall had been built around the entire city. Darius, built a second wall around the fortress. He also added several guard stations and over 20 cannons to the walls. The walls were rounded at the bottom to thwart any attempt to attack the walls with a battering ram and all the walls were sloped to lower any damage from cannons. Cyrus's father had added several troop garrisons outside the fortress to defend it. He also made several ditches to prevent any wheeled war machines from getting across. At the very back of the building, a secret path had been created next to the Black Army barracks so that the king or queen could sneak away with their elite guard if necessary. Tall spiraling watch towers were added as well. The fortress was impossible to break into.

Cyrus's room was large but simple with an ordinary bed and an ordinary view of the city he ruled. The only thing out of place of the drab room was a huge grand oak table and a huge painting in an oak frame in which his father stood proudly among the Black Army, his wickedly curved sword glinting in the sunlight and his red cape with designs woven from golden cloth blew in the wind. An inscription at the bottom of the frame said "King Adrian leads troops to victory in Ennersville". The huge oak table had a huge map of the world laid out on it with several markers. Cyrus stood there now, moving pieces around and frowning at several other countries. Cyrus always woke in the mornings and examined this map for it was magical and moved on its own according to the events of the world.

"…move troops to the northwest and send patrols through Dew Town…." He muttered to himself as he moved a green piece to Dew Town.

Cyrus was not very self conscious of himself but he was very conscious about his empire. The Garlan Empire dominated the eastern continent and parts of the western continent but other nations were a concern to Cyrus. A map such as this was put in every room of the fortress so that Cyrus could keep a constant watch on his enemies. Every general was required to carry a smaller version as well. Cyrus looked up from the map to stare at the huge picture of his father. Big, proud and strong. Everything Cyrus wanted to be. Among the soldiers of the Black Army in the picture was a familiar face. Himself. He had fought at Ennersville when revolutionaries had struck and attempted to seize the mansion of the lord living there and Cyrus had made sure every single one of them hung from the city gates.

"Your majesty, your sons have arrived from their expedition."

Cyrus tore himself away from the painting to see the chief valet, Lesley, waiting for him. Cyrus nodded and followed Lesley to the dressing room. The progress through the hallways was quick for the hallways had been shortened by Darius for he couldn't walk very fast. They quickly came to a big oak door and it was soon opened by 2 valets.

"Good morning to you your majesty." They said, bowing.

Cyrus gave them a nod and turned to the wide selection of clothes laid out for him. Cyrus quickly selected a fine white shirt, a pair of royal blue dress pants and a grand cape made of simple grey leather attached to his kingly robes by a chain. The chief valet handed him his crown and Cyrus shook his head.

"No crown." He said softly as he gave the simple black iron crown back to the valet.

Cyrus watched as the double wooden doors were opened for him. The doors led to a simple room with 2 mirrors. Cyrus entered and looked at himself in the mirror. The deep brown eyes that had won him the heart of his late wife, Rea, stared back at him. The smooth but wild chestnut brown hair that had blown in the wind during exciting hunts. His clothes reflected who he was, the most powerful man in the world. He was not very old and he still looked like he was only 20 years old. His tanned skin and his muscled body were outcomes of years of training and he had used that training to help forge an empire that would never be forgotten. He turned away from the mirror and opened the doors that led to the dining hall. His 2 sons were already sitting at the triangular table piled high with food. Cyrus sat down and he looked at his sons. Otto was similar to him, dark brown eyes, tan skin and brown hair. He was more of a fighter. Bartholomew was more like his mother with short blonde hair, light tan and dark blue eyes. He was a brilliant scout. They both wore their general uniforms and they nodded to their father as he sat down.

"So, I heard that you had returned from your expedition." Cyrus said as he moved to get a roll.

Otto and Bartholomew nodded and each took a small apple for themselves. Their father always ate the meat first.

"Yes father. We did go on the expedition and we found this." Otto said as he reached into a pocket in his uniform and pulled out a solid gold circle.

Cyrus stopped eating and looked up. He took the golden circle into his hands and looked at it. It was a simple piece with a smooth golden surface and several small holes drilled around the edge. It was in the shape of a circle and it looked like it could have been a medallion. However, Cyrus knew exactly what it was. He took the circle of gold and put it away in his pocket. He was starting to feel very, happy.

"You have done well my sons. Did you find anything else?" Cyrus asked, a smile forming on his face.

They shook their heads and Cyrus just nodded. He looked at Bartholomew who was eating an apple.

"And what about your duel today with Lord Perion." Cyrus asked as he took the first slab of meat.

Bartholomew slid a glance across at Otto. Cyrus knew everything that went on in the fortress and Lord Perion had indirectly insulted Otto.

"It is to be held at 3 today. Im sure I will win." Bartholomew said confidently as he ate a piece of chicken.

Cyrus nodded and he gave advice to Bartholomew. Otto just listened in, thinking of girls and such.

"Always aim for the heart. It is a bigger target from the head." He said as he finished his plate and started to stand up.

Bartholomew nodded and they also stood, finished with their meal. Cyrus gave them a nod and walked off into a side corridor in the dining hall. He walked quickly, his heart slamming against his chest. He came to an iron door in the corridor and he quickly undid the rusty latch that held the door closed. It creaked terribly but he quickly entered and locked the door behind him. Inside the room was a massive amount of ancient treasures. Old bullets, pieces of clay pots, fragments of swords and various ancient artifacts. He pulled the golden disk out of his pocket and stared at it. It was finally his!

"Finally…you are mine!" he shouted in glee as he set the golden disk on a wooden table and covered it with an old cloth.

Cyrus laughed to himself as he opened the door and closed the door and locked it. He walked away, singing happily to himself.

**Otto and Bartholomew**

Bartholomew stood outside in the courtyard with a pistol in hand. He stood across from Lord Perion, a fellow general. He was an excellent shot but Bartholomew was better. A few Black Army soldiers supervised the duel. Bartholomew gazed at Perion's heart. He imagined the bullet striking his chest and Perion falling to the ground, dead. A soldier rang a bell and Bartholomew's gaze immediately snapped to Perion. They bowed.

"10 paces back!" a soldier shouted.

Bartholomew turned and walked 10 paces. His heart was beating with wild excitement. The wind blowing only added to the incredible situation.

"Turn and fire!" the soldier shouted.

It all happened in an instant. Bartholomew whirled around and the gun barrel found its way towards Perion's heart. Bartholomew pulled the trigger and felt something whiz past him. Perion grabbed his chest and he fell backwards, into the arms of a soldier. Bartholomew whirled the pistol and put it back in his leather holster. He nodded curtly to the soldiers and walked back into the fortress to where his brother was. He arrived at the lavishly furnished room to see his brother reading a book. On a small silver plate was a burned roll. Bartholomew snatched up the roll and looked at it. He put the roll down and had a disgusted look on his face.

"Who burned this roll. I should have the cooks beaten for this offense!" he said arrogantly.

"Shut up Bartholomew. Im trying to learn. I burned the roll now calm down." Otto said, annoyed by his younger brother's idiocy.

Bartholomew tried to find out what Otto was reading but Otto kept moving out of the way.

"Let me see!" he grunted as the 2 brothers fell to the ground and wrestled for the book.

It eventually flew out of their hands and fell onto the table. It landed with a heavy thud and Bartholomew was surprised to find out that the pages were made of black iron with the words scratched in with white coloring. A chain served as the book's spine and the page showed several diagrams. Bartholomew glared at Otto.

"What in the bloody hell is this?" he demanded.

Otto responded by hitting his brother's head with his hand. He picked up the book and showed him the title. Balviron.

"Whats, Balviron?" Bartholomew asked as he rubbed his head.

"I don't know but this book seems to have a lot of knowledge. I found it during the expedition but I didn't open it until now." Otto said as he continued reading.

Bartholomew looked offended.

"You found something cool and you didn't share with me?" he said, hurt.

Otto glanced up at him, rolling his eyes.

"Who would want to share something like this with you. Hold on, watch this." Otto said as he put down the book and pointed a single hand at the roll on the plate.

There was a short pause as a small spat of electricity burst from Otto's hand and burned the roll even further. Bartholomew looked surprised and jumped back.

"You're a mage!" he shouted like it was a curse.

"So? Archibald, one of our great ancestors was a mage. I don't see the problem with being one as well. At any rate, im only a novice so I shouldn't really be relying on arcane powers to do my work for me." He said as he shut the book and put it on a bookshelf.

Otto looked around the room thoughtfully. He had a good idea for something fun to do.

"Want to go visit Rachel and Haley?" Otto asked as he grinned.

Bartholomew nodded and followed his brother out of the room. They didn't notice the book vibrate violently as they left.

**Woods in Adrianople**

Hyde was so busy admiring the silver piece that he kick coming. The shoe hit him in the ribs and he let out a yelp of pain and moved away. The woman stood, brushing bits of crushed leaves from her tattered cloak. Hyde picked up the silver piece and realized that he had been sitting on the woman the whole time.

"Im so sorry. I didn't mean to hit you." He apologized, the artifact in his hand.

The woman looked at him with pity. She was young, in her teens like Hyde. She had dark brown hair that was curly and went down the back of her cloak like a chocolate waterfall. Her brown eyes with golden flecks gave Hyde a nervous feeling, like she was some exotic animal, ready to strike.

"No need to apologize. My name is Lidia James. What is yours?" she asked.

**A bit of a long chapter but I had some time to do this. Anyways, turns out that I will be needing a couple OCs to help this story go along. They don't have to be mages by the way.**

**Name:**

**Age:**

**Personality:**

**Skill or job: Blacksmith, librarian, etc**

**Magic (if a mage):**

**Guild ( not Fairy Tail if possible):**

**Appearance:**

**History:**

**What city they live in:**

**What they will think of Hyde and Lidia:**

**And I believe that is all. If there are any questions, please ask. Hope you enjoyed it! FF**


	3. Bona Fortuna

**After thinking through this, I have decided to make this the next big series in my Fairy Tail category. I edited the description so that it said that OCs will be accepted. And so the journey begins. Before we go anywhere, I would like to introduce my character.**

**Name: Hyde**

**Age: 17**

**Magic: a sword mage**

**Guild: Goliath**

**Personality: Hyde is respecting of those who are higher rank than him. He jokes around when he can but knows he should be serious if the situation calls. Loyal to his friends he would never turn down a cry for help.**

**Appearance: Light brown hair that is straight. Hyde has dark brown eyes like everyone born in Fiore. He is tanned, lean and he is quick on his feet. He wears a leather shoulder pad that goes around his right shoulder and a matching sword sheath goes along with it. Wears a sky blue shirt with a few bits of leaves stuck in it and he wears blue jeans to go along with his shirt. His sword is on the long side and is not curved unlike most Garlan swords. Inscriptions that he cant read go along the side and he found it among dead soldiers during his travels as a mercenary soldier. It is made of shining steel and the handle is leather wrapped around a round hilt. He has a dashing smile and is a natural soldier of fortune. Hyde is 5'11" and he has a lean body that makes him appear a bit tall. **

**Job or Skill: Mercenary soldier from Goliath**

**History: Hyde grew up among a huge family. His father and mother were part of Goliath as well. He was the 4****th**** among 14 different kids. What Hyde didn't know was that he was part of a system called "Chain Soldiers". The system was set up so that the children of mercenary soldiers would all grow up to be soldiers themselves and fight together as a family unit. Lopez, the guild master, objected but it happened anyway. Hyde's entire family are mercenary soldiers, some more famous than the others. He grew up reading the stories of the old world like the adventures of Noel and Julius and he protested when Cyrus destroyed the tombs. He had joined the Blue Army by then and he served well and was soon discharged. He is still a mercenary.**

**What city they live in: a small town called Dew Town. **

**So lets go on with the story. I actually love the beginning. Anyways, go on.**

**Outside of Adrianople Fortress**

Otto and Bartholomew were coming back from visiting Rachel and Haley. They were in a good mood and they were smiling as the gates of Adrianople opened slowly and they were let into the highly secretive city. They rode on horses and trotted lazily through the streets towards the fortress that stood in the back ground of the city. They look all around the city, taking in the scene of the grand city. They were almost to the city gates when suddenly Otto reared his horse back. Bartholomew almost fell off his horse in surprise. He caught himself and glared at Otto.

"Hey! What was that for!" he complained as he straightened his uniform.

Otto glared at Bartholomew and pointed towards the gates of the city. Bartholomew looked down towards the gates and was surprised to see a woman in a white dress standing in front of the gates. She had 2 red stripes that went down the sides of her dress and her facial expression was not happy. Behind her stood several hundred soldiers wearing red uniforms. The Red Army. They were the army made up of the former Rune Knights and veteran Garlan soldiers. They wore the uniforms that the Black Army wore but they were dark red and their helmets didn't have 3 spikes at the top. Otto urged his horse forward nervously and Bartholomew followed silently behind. They brought their horses almost directly in front of the woman and the soldiers. Otto cleared his throat and looked down at the woman who was glaring up at him.

"Ech! Er, uh, Livia, what are you doing here…" Otto mumbled not in his usual confident tone.

"You know what I am doing here brother. You were visiting Rachel and Haley weren't you? Even though it is forbidden you meet them." Livia said as she glared up at him.

Otto covered his face in embarrassment. Livia was his younger sister and she was scolding him, the heir to the throne. Her fierce brown eyes could make almost anyone feel uncomfortable and even his father admitted that she made him nervous. Bartholomew tried his luck to talk his way out of the situation.

"Well look Livia. It was just a friendly visit. I mean nothing really hap-"

"Back! Back with you Bartholomew Furian Evadeus!" Livia snapped angrily, using Bartholomew's full name.

He backed away, his face burning red with embarrassment. Livia was Cyrus's favorite child for she had inherited his late wife's looks. Yes, Otto was the heir but Cyrus let Livia do anything she wanted and she knew she held nearly unlimited power. Livia smoothed her dress and looked at Otto and Bartholomew with distaste.

"Just look at you fools! Members of the Evadeus family, running around after random girls. Our ancestors would be ashamed!" she fumed as Otto and Bartholomew stared at the ground in embarrassment.

"B-but!" Bartholomew ventured nervously.

"No buts! I know exactly what they would say. I am ashamed to be your little sister. Now get off your horses and get back in the fortress!" she said, glaring at Bartholomew.

"Your only 17! Im 18! I should be the one in charge of you!" Bartholomew complained.

Otto dismounted from his horse and handed the reigns to one of the soldiers behind Livia. He knew Livia was right. Otto and Bartholomew were highly protective of Livia but Livia was protective of them.

"Get off your horse Barth." Otto said, sighing.

Barth tried to make a protest but ended up getting off of his horse. The 2 boys walked back to the fortress, ashamed to be scolded by their little sister. Livia stayed outside for a while and watched city bustle with activity. There were so many people but she couldn't save them all, not even in her life could she… She turned and walked back into the fortress with her soldiers. The thick iron gates closed behind them, sealing the activities of the fortress away.

**Woods of Adrianople**

Hyde brushed himself off a bit as well and looked back at Lidia. She was quite beautiful and perhaps she was a daughter of a noble. But judging by her clothes, there was no way. Noble girls only had tastes for the finest silk and would never wear a tattered cloak like the one she wore. Hyde cleared his throat and introduced himself.

"My name is Hyde. Just Hyde. Im a swordmage from Goliath." He said proudly.

Lidia let out a laugh and her smile seemed to brighten the day although the sun was high in the sky.

"Whats so funny?" Hyde asked, confused.

"Oh nothing, its just that I found this whole situation to be funny. However, where were you going when you ran into me?" she asked him.

'Those dang scouts…' Hyde thought to himself as he remembered the events leading up to this point.

"I was being chased by scouts. Apparently im not allowed to keep a weapon in the great city. Im not a soldier anymore so that could have been why." Hyde said, scratching his head and lifting his sword sheath a bit.

Lidia nodded and seemed to be thinking. They stood in the woods for a while, surrounded by dead leaves. Lidia finally looked up and asked Hyde a question.

"Would you like to come with me?" she asked.

"Um sure. Where are you going?" Hyde asked.

Lidia pulled out a map from her cloak and showed it to Hyde. A circle was drawn around Ennersville.

"So your going to Ennersville. Interesting. Doesn't the Ryuusaga family live there? And why bring me along?" he asked, confused.

Lidia held up 3 fingers.

"Yes, I am going to Ennersville. Yes, the Ryuusaga family does live there but they don't maintain control of the city anymore. The nobles have had to give up their spheres of influence to prevent the king or queen having to rely on them. I am bringing you along because you are a soldier for hire are you not? The fact that I find you very amusing and I enjoy your company even if I have only known you for a brief moment is an added bonus." She explained.

Hyde nodded and held up the silver artifact in his hand it glinted in the sunlight.

"Do you have any idea what this is?" he asked as he handed it to Lidia.

Lidia turned it over and examined the entire thing. She seemed interested in the engravings and eventually just handed it back to Hyde. She smiled as she looked at Hyde.

"Looks like there is another reason we must travel together. To find the value of that artifact." She said.

Hyde laughed and they quickly climbed back onto the road and travelled towards Ennersville.

**Ennersville**

The road to Ennersville had been a long journey but they had finally arrived at the city. There was no real fear of bandits mainly due to the massive amount of soldiers patrolling the entire continent. Ennersville was no exception as it came into view. Several soldiers stood on the walls and 2 stood in front of the gates. Their white uniforms marked them as the lowest ranking soldiers in the army. Hyde had served several years as a soldier in the Garlan military and knew how everything went.

The military was separated into several "armies". The Black Army were the elite soldiers of the army. Next, was the Red Army, veteran soldiers or Rune Knights. Then the Blue Army which he had served in that was mostly made up of mercenaries like him or middle ranked Garlan soldiers. The lowest army was the White Army that was made up of new recruits. Lidia stopped and looked at the city walls. The flag of the Ryuusaga family no longer flew from the flag staffs. In its place was the Garlan flag, a black iron crown with swords surrounding the crown with the points pointing outward.

"Funny, I didn't know the military took control of the city…" Lidia said as she looked at the city.

Hyde stopped and looked at the city with him. Although the city was under the control of the military, it hadn't changed much.

"Yeah, they did when Cyrus came to power but the Ryuusaga family still has their estate." Hyde said.

Lidia nodded and they proceeded to the city gates. They came to the city gates and the soldiers held up their hands.

"Rospos dierdera*." said one of the soldiers as he held out his hand.

Hyde was about to respond when Lidia handed the soldier a small piece of paper and the soldier nodded. The gates of the city opened and they entered smoothly. Hyde just gaped at Lidia.

"How did they let you in so easily? I would have had to show them my military credentials and that would have taken hours!"

"My father is a merchant who comes here frequently. Or rather, my grandfather comes here often. He is in good terms with the guards here." She said as they walked through the streets past several shops.

They stopped in front of a big wooden building that looked like it could have been a guild building. The sign at the top said "Bona Fortuna" which meant "Good Fortune" in Garlan.

"So, this is where you have business?" Hyde asked as he looked up at the building.

"Yes, there is also someone here who could value your artifact for you." Lidia said as they entered the building.

The inside of Bona Fortuna was very calm and peaceful, completely unlike Goliath. People walked around, carrying bags of various goods and several small booths were set up. Lidia must have known exactly what she was doing for she walked straight to one of the booths at the back. In the booth stood a man that had bright amber eyes, a slightly muscular build and tanned skin. He also had flat, dark oak hair with several strands covering his forehead and some that spike down near his neck. He wears a dark blue, long-sleeved shirt; slightly ripped jeans; and brown combat boots. He smiled as he saw Lidia approach.

"Hello Lidia." He said cheerily as Lidia nodded and smiled back.

"Hi Hitoshi. I just wanted to give you something to value." Lidia said as she nodded to Hyde.

Hitoshi nodded. He seemed interested in the item.

"What is it?" he asked curiously as Hyde put the silver artifact on the wooden table in the booth.

Hitoshi's eyes widened as he saw the silver half circle placed on his table. He examined it carefully and looked at it from all angles. Then he looked up and gave Hyde and Lidia a weird look.

"I hate to tell you this…but this is cursed." Hitoshi said flatly.

**Garlan for "credentials please"**

**Hope you guys liked that chapter! Anyways, the form for OCs is in the last chapter if you want to send in one. I only mentioned one of LunarBlaze's OCs in this chapter because I thought that this would be a good place to stop. Also, im going to have you guys wait a bit for the last few chapters of Nightmare Mage because im going through a bit of writers block at the moment and I can only think of story line for this story -_- . I hope you enjoyed and don't forget to send in OCs! FF**


	4. Fog Isles

**Well, here is some good news. The Last Nightmare Mage is back in action. I have managed to work out something that can help the story move along. My project is almost finished so I have a little bit of time to be writing. Thanks to Ed for sending me OCs that I can use for this story! Any readers out there who want to send OCs, feel free. Lets go.**

**Bona Fortuna**

Hyde and Lidia stared at the silver artifact with disbelief on their faces. Cursed? But…nothing bad had happened them!

"What do you mean cursed? Are you saying that it has no value?" Lidia asked, bewilderment on her face.

Hitoshi nodded and tapped the artifact.

"Im not a mage but I can just tell by how this artifact reacts to me. There is some sort of strange connection with this artifact and evil. You may not feel it but I can feel it for sure. Where did you find this again?" Hitoshi asked, carefully trying to pull information together.

Hyde decided to speak. If something really was wrong with the artifact…

"We found it in the woods of Adrianople. It was buried under some dead leaves." Hyde said, explaining what had happened.

Hitoshi nodded and turned around to pick up a green lacrima. He held it to his ear and it soon glowed and a voice could be heard from it. Hitoshi was calling someone!

"Hey Hitoshi!" a voice screamed from the other end.

Hitoshi covered his ears and yelled back. Hyde and Lidia watched with mild interest as Hitoshi had a shouting match with the person on the other end.

"Tadaaki! Be quite! Im working with a few people right now and we will be coming over to ask your opinion on something!" Hitoshi shouted in the lacrima.

"Alright, fine. Don't be so mean…geez…"

The lacrima went dark and Hitoshi sighed and put it away. Lidia smiled at Hitoshi.

"Was that your brother?" she asked.

Hitoshi weaved his fingers through his hair and nodded. Hyde nodded sympathetically. He knew what it was like to have obnoxious siblings.

"Well, Tadaaki is at Beast Spirit right now. We should head over there now and then we can really find out if this thing is cursed." Hitoshi said as Hyde took the artifact off the table and the 3 of them walked out of the merchant guild.

They stepped into the street that was busy with people shopping and talking. Hitoshi pointed to a large concrete building not too far from where they were. Only their flag was visible from the other buildings blocking the building. It was close to the Ryuusaga family manor.

"That is Beast Spirit. Tadaaki should be there right now." Hitoshi said as he motioned to Hyde and Lidia to follow them.

They ran quickly up the sloped street, dodging people carrying things and soldiers. They were close to the guild but Hitoshi was thinking hard.

'What is that silver artifact? I dont remember seeing anything like that in our family records. Im not sure I trust this Hyde person…Lidia doesn't seem to be uncomfortable around him but something is not right with him…' Hitoshi thought as he was suddenly slammed to the ground.

Hitoshi stared up into the face of his twin, Tadaaki. His chestnut hair, bright amber eyes, and tanned skin gave him away. He has a slightly leaner build than Hikari, but other than that, he could easily be mistaken as Hikari himself. He wears a dark red jacket over a gray-ish black shirt, dark blue pants, and black running shoes with white streaks. He was grinning and laughing. He was always filled with energy wasn't he? Hitoshi pushed Tadaaki off of him and laughed.

"Tadaaki! You almost gave me a heart attack with a move like that!" he laughed as he stood up and brushed himself off.

Tadaaki grinned and folded his arms. He motioned to Hyde and Lidia.

"Who are they?" he asked Hitoshi.

Lidia seemed annoyed by this statement and Hitoshi glared at Tadaaki. Hyde was totally confused. Did he know them or not?

"You know who I am Tadaaki." Lidia said, rolling her eyes.

Tadaaki held out his hands and sighed. Hitoshi just smiled and laughed.

"Sharp as ever." Tadaaki said as he nodded and looked towards Hyde.

"But I seriously don't know who _you _are." Tadaaki said as he shielded his eyes from dust kicked up by 2 soldiers riding by on horses.

Hyde waved friendly. He didn't really know what else to do. He felt sort of out of place among this group of friends.

"My name is Hyde. I guess you could say I am Lidia's bodyguard." Hyde said as Lidia nodded.

"A very good bodyguard at that." Lidia nodded.

Hitoshi looked over at Tadaaki. He had a n urgent look on his face.

"Hey, I want you to inspect this artifact for me. Can you do that?" Hitoshi asked and Tadaaki nodded.

Hyde passed the silver half circle to Tadaaki. Tadaaki held it for only a second before throwing it onto the ground, his hands shaking. Hyde quickly picked it up and looked at it. The silver wasn't hot at all so why did Tadaaki throw it? Tadaaki's arms shook as he wiped them off on his clothes.

"Definitely cursed. I cant even touch the thing for more than a second." Tadaaki said as he shivered.

Hitoshi turned to Lidia and Hyde. Just what was this thing?

"I noticed that there are words written into it. I think I know someone that can decode the words. Can Tadaaki and I go with you?" he asked Lidia.

Tadaaki looked up.

"Hey, dad isn't here right now so we don't have to ask for permission. We just have to leave a message that we left the house." Tadaaki said as he fished a green lacrima out from his pocket and spoke into it.

Hyde realized that he didn't even know their names.

"Uh, what is your last name?" Hyde asked Hitoshi.

"Ryuusaga. Our house is up there." Hitoshi said as he pointed at the huge manor.

Hyde let out a whistle and looked up at the huge house. Tadaaki put away the lacrima and looked at Hyde.

"What you never seen a house before?" Tadaaki joked.

"You guys must be lucky to have that much influence and a big house like that." Hyde said dreamily.

Hitoshi and Tadaaki laughed and Lidia smiled at this statement. Suddenly the rattling of a carriage was heard behind Lidia and Hyde. Hitoshi pointed behind them and shouted.

"Look out! A carriage!" he shouted as he moved out of the road.

Tadaaki and Lidia moved quickly and Hyde narrowly missed getting hit with a club from one of the soldiers on the back of the carriage.

"Move!" shouted the soldier as the carriage passed.

Lidia, Hitoshi and Tadaaki glared as a mob of soldiers holding hammers ran behind the carriage and passed them. They went up the road and stood in front of the gates of the Ryuusaga manor. The group ran up the hill and stood angrily in front of the carriage as the door opened and a general stepped out. He wore the white armor like his soldiers and he saluted to Hitoshi and Tadaaki.

"My lords. How may I help you." He said.

Hitoshi and Tadaaki glared at the general.

"I want to know what you are doing, surrounding our house." They both demanded angrily.

"King Cyrus has ordered soldiers to guard the houses of the lords while they are away." The general said.

Lidia stepped up. She knew how to take care of this situation.

"Then, general, you wont be needing your carriage if you are guarding the manor." Lidia said smoothly.

The general hesitated but then gave in. Everyone looked impressed.

"Yes, if you need the carriage to go somewhere, then you can take it." The general said.

Hitoshi and Tadaaki nodded and everyone got into the carriage. Hitoshi told the driver to drive to Bermin, a city that was not too far away. As the city of Ennersville got smaller, Hitoshi and Tadaaki suspected that the soldiers were not placed there for protection….

**Adrianople Fortress**

Cyrus sat in his throne in the main hall, the nobles standing before him. His sons stood next to him and they wore their Black Army uniforms. Cyrus wore the clothes he had always worn and the black iron crown lay on his head. He looked bored. He cleared his throat and spoke.

"Now that we have taken care of business…I will say this once. I am making your titles void now." Cyrus said.

An immediate roar of protest went up from the nobles. Cyrus slammed his fist down on his throne.

"Silence! As nobles, you can not be taxed. However, our empire needs money for the military and expeditions. Understand that your family has escaped taxation for several hundreds of years. Your titles are now void! You are allowed to keep your manor but all the walls around the manors must go down." Cyrus said to the nobles.

The nobles kept shouting and Cyrus nodded to his sons. Otto drew his sword, it was made of black iron and was curved like a crescent moon.

"Drive them from the city!" he shouted as the side doors blasted open and the Black Army stormed into the main hall, holding spears and forcing the nobles to flee from the main hall. Cyrus waved his sons over to his side.

They stood in front of him. Cyrus leaned forward to speak.

**Bermin**

They had arrived at Bermin soon. The huge gates of the city stood in stony silence and the carriage processed through the busy city streets and they finally arrived at a small bookstore. Hitoshi told the driver to stop and they quickly exited. Hyde looked at the store and was skeptical.

"A bookstore? Is that seriously where we are supposed to go?" he asked as they all entered the bookstore.

The bookstore was small with several bookshelves. Inside was an old man wearing a brown vest and matching pants. He was holding a book. He had graying hair with deep green eyes and a scar down his neck.

"Why hello there. Are you perhaps looking for a book?" he asked as he the book down.

"We are looking for Lucia Tsubasa. She told us that she comes here a lot." Tadaaki said as the man nodded and turned towards the back of the store.

"Lucia! Your friends are here!" he shouted.

The sound of something falling was heard as a girl came running from the back of the store. She had long red hair & white skin. black dress shirt, black knee length skirt, black shoes with white laces, right eye blue left eye golden bronze and an eye patch covering her left eye. She smiled when she saw Hitoshi and Tadaaki.

"You guys! What are you here for?" she asked.

"We want to see if you can translate the words written on this artifact." Hyde said as he showed her the half circle.

Lucia squinted and looked at the words engraved in the silver. Then her mouth fell open in surprise and she pointed to the table in the corner of the store.

"Put it on there. I need to see it up close." She said as everyone ran to the table and put the artifact on the table.

Lucia examined the words for a bit longer and looked up.

"Well, you guys wont believe it. The words on this artifact, its in Sagonian." She said, looking at everyone.

Everyone looked at each other. Sagonian? What was that? Lidia even seemed confused.

"Whats Sagonian exactly?" she asked Lucia.

"The Sagonians are considered the first civilization to rise. They had massive hordes of soldiers but they never left their homeland. They often wrote messages on silver disks, showing their wealth and power. Their civilization dates back to the time of the Black Sun. They came from the Fog Isles…" Lucia said.

**Adrianople Fortress**

"I believe it is time for us to visit my father. Get ready to ride! To Bermin!" Cyrus shouted as his sons ran from the main hall to the stables.

Cyrus quickly strapped on Black Army armor to disguise himself. His father was an old sage, he would know what to do.

**This took way longer than expected. Stupid B Movies kept distracting me. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it. FF**


	5. Father and Son

**Super long chapter today. Reason being, I like making long chapters and I noticed that a lot of people make really long chapters for each post. This may or not be a good week for writing depending on how much work I have to do. Last week was definitely not a good week. But this week, maybe. Im still working on the new chapter for Last Nightmare Mage, considering that it is the final chapter. Also, if anyone has any theories then feel free to send them to me. So, lets go. **

**Bermin, bookstore**

Everyone looked at the words carved into the smooth silver. Were they really words carved in by some ancient civilization?

"But cant you read it? I mean, you can recognize the language right?" Hitoshi asked as he looked up at Lucia.

Lucia shook her head.

"Reading a language and recognizing it is different. A lot of people can recognize when someone is speaking Garlan but they cant actually interpret what they are saying." Lucia explained.

Everyone was feeling a bit down when suddenly the old man who ran the bookstore took a look at the silver artifact. He passed his hand over the middle word and he laughed. Everyone looked at him. He knew what he was reading?

"Its! Upside down!" the old man laughed as he turned the piece upside down so that it looked like a bowl.

Everyone looked at the piece again. It still didn't make sense. The words were still foreign.

"War…" the old man said softly as he looked at the last word on the artifact.

"W-war?" Lidia asked as she looked at the man.

The old man nodded. His deep green eyes looked at the word carefully.

"By war, we gain land. By peace, we gain prosperity." The old man said as he recited the Garlan motto.

Hyde stared at the artifact and Tadaaki had also fallen silent for once. They all stared at the word "Saminus" that was carved at the way end. That meant war? Hyde turned to the man. He hd a strange question to ask him.

"Sir, what is your name exactly?" Hyde asked.

Time seemed to slow down as everyone looked at the man as he turned to look at Hyde. Even Lucia seemed interested.

"My name, is Adrian Evadeus." He said.

"The Em-emperor?" everyone shouted.

The old man wearing weird clothes was the emperor of the Garlan Empire. Everyone stared at the man in disbelief. Hitoshi took a step forward.

"Sir. D-do you know what your son has done to this world?" Hitoshi asked, his whole body shaking.

The man backed away and sat down on a small wooden chair. He motioned for them to sit and everyone sat around him like children listening to a story. Adrian sighed.

"Yes, I know what my son has done. Am I proud of my son? Yes, yes I am. He is a bold leader, listening to no one besides himself and he sets his own rules, that makes him strong. My own father was like that and his mother before him. The first queen of the Garlan Consulate. Let me tell you something. I am getting old. I have no power." Adrian said as he stared into the fireplace wistfully.

Everyone's mouths dropped open. The Emperor, have no power? Was this a joke? Lidia piped up.

"But, you are the emperor!" she said, amazed.

Adrian nodded. He seemed sad.

"That is true. The only real power I hold is the power to go where ever I please. Nations cater to my every wish, afraid to offend me. I am not the one who forged this empire. It was my grandmother, Sara who truly created this vast empire. My only friends are these books. I bought this bookstore to surround me with as much knowledge as I could before I died." Adrian said as he stared at the sword hanging off of Hyde's back.

Everyone was listening intently, to hear more about the emperor's story.

"Young man, hand me your sword. The silver artifact you hold, it is of great value. It may be "cursed" but it is a lesser curse than you imagine." Adrian said as he took the sword from Hyde's hand.

The man turned it over in his hands, reading the inscriptions. He laughed deeply as he read one that was on the hilt. He handed the sword back to Hyde who didn't put it away.

Tadaaki was sort of starting to get annoyed.

"So, whats the message here." He said impatiently.

Everyone glared at Tadaaki and he grumbled.

"The message here is to not throw away everything you had like I did. I stepped down from the throne too early. My son was only 14 when he took the throne. I was a fool to let him rule. Now, I believe that you must go. My son is coming to meet me." Adrian said as he stood.

Everyone nodded and Hyde grabbed the silver artifact and put it in his pack and turned to leave the bookstore when suddenly 3 Black Army soldiers came into the store. They shoved past everyone in the group and walked straight up to Adrian. They bowed to him and the soldier in the front whispered something to the 2 behind him. They nodded and walked outside. Hyde and the others had already left the bookstore. Adrian sat back down. He folded his arms and looked at Cyrus as he took of the spiked helmet.

"Father, it has been too long." Cyrus said as he knelt.

"I assume you have something important to tell me if you came all the way here, in disguise." Adrian said as Cyrus nodded.

"Father. I have recently received the middle piece. We can complete the circle!" Cyrus said excitedly.

Adrian nodded his head. The middle piece, however…

"Why? Why complete the circle? Those 3 pieces were once in our possession and Sara decided not to use them." Adrian said as Cyrus shook his head in disgust.

"They were fools. The circle could have brought us infinite wealth and power! But yet she chose not to use it! I will complete the circle father. I swear it." Cyrus said as he stood and put the helmet back on.

Adrian chuckled a little bit. He reckoned that it had been 72 hours since Cyrus received the middle piece…which meant…

"You know what kind of risk you are taking right? One false step and you have doomed this empire." Adrian said as he stood up.

Cyrus let out a harsh laugh. His eyes barely showed under the helmet.

"I know that the group that left the store before us has the bottom piece. I plan to kill them and take it." Cyrus said as he left the bookstore.

"You don't know how much of a fool you are…" Adrian said softly as he turned away from the door.

**Hyde's group**

"So, where to?" Hyde asked, tiredly as they walked through the streets of Bermin.

"We need a boat to the Fog Isles that's what." Lucia said as she looked at Hyde.

That sent off some alarms in Hyde's head.

"The Fog Isles? Are you insane! I heard that sorcerers live there and they kill anyone who steps foot on the islands!" Hyde shouted.

Hitoshi and Tadaaki were in deep thought as they walked through the street. Lidia seemed to be out of ideas as well. They had walked into a path in the woods when Lidia stopped. She seemed to be concentrating on something. The wind echoed through the trees and everyone also stopped.

"Hold on…I hear something…" Lidia said as she looked through the forest.

Hyde drew his sword and everyone got ready to fight. Was there really something there? Suddenly they heard it. The thudding of hooves. The group of soldiers burst onto the path, all of them wearing the black armor of the Black Army. At the head was a soldier that had chestnut brown hair and carried a evilly curved sword. The other soldier at the front had blonde hair and a strange contraption was strapped to his arm. It was like a metal armguard but 2 hooks had been attached to the part that reached the hands and were attached to 2 wires that went up the armguard and into a metal bolt.

"Get them!" shouted the blonde.

"Yes my lord!" the soldiers shouted as they got off their horses and chased the group into the forest.

Hyde heard a scream and he turned and ran. Everyone was close behind him and Hyde didn't dare look back. They heard the curses of soldiers as they burst through undergrowth.

"Where should we run!" shouted Hyde as he dodged a branch.

The forest was very linear with trees growing in straight rows and it was easy to see everyone as they ran. Unfortunately, that meant the enemies could see them too.

"Keep running forward!" shouted Hitoshi as he dodged a shot from a pistol.

"Oh come on! You have better aim than that!" Tadaaki taunted as a tree trunk burst into pieces and there was a flash of metal as the 2 hooks shot back.

"I know you have the silver artifact! Give it up and we will let you live!" shouted the blonde as he guided his horse through the trees and aimed the contraption at Lidia who was running next to Hyde.

The hooks were about to fire when suddenly a blinding light shot past him and he fell off his horse. Tadaaki let out a laugh as the blonde fell to the ground and struggled to get back up.

"Keep running! I see a path down in front of us!" Lucia shouted as she pointed forward and sure enough, there was a dirt path sort of like the one that Hyde had fallen down.

Hyde was about to shout something in reply when suddenly a soldier tried to tackle Hyde. He missed and landed in the dead leaves and Hyde quickly drew his sword. The soldier got up and he realized that it was the blonde that had fallen from his horse. He snarled as he looked at Hyde and drew a knife.

"Come on! Take me on you vagrant!" he shouted tauntingly as he waved the knife around.

Hyde spun his sword and saw his friends run past through the corner of his eye. He shouted and swung the sword at the soldier. He barely deflected, surprised by the sword's weight. He suddenly squinted at one of the inscriptions.

"What does that s- your kidding me!" shouted the soldier as his eyes grew wide at the inscription.

Hyde took the opportunity to slam the sword's hilt into the soldier's stomach and kick him backwards into a tree. Then he turned and ran. As he ran, the screams of the soldier could be heard.

"He has the sword Otto! He has it!"

Hyde didn't even pay attention as he burst onto the dirt path. His friends were staring down at the other side of the path. Suddenly Lidia lost her footing on the dirt path and she started to slid down the muddy side of the hill screaming. It was like a chain reaction. Lidia first, then Hitoshi, Tadaaki, Lucia and then Hyde.

"H-help! Oh god im sliding!" screamed Lidia as she slid into the dark unknown below.

Hyde stared down at the bottom of the hill, eyes wide. He couldn't even see anything down there! He saw Lidia disappear and then Hitoshi and the rest.

"I cant see anything!" Hyde screamed as he fell into the blackness.

The group of soldiers stood at the side of the path, looking down into the darkness below. Otto came from the woods, helping Bartholomew to walk. They also stared down into the blackness.

"A-are they dead?" asked one of the soldiers.

"H-he had the sword Otto!" Bartholomew grunted as he shifted his weight.

Otto stared down the hill and he turned away.

"No point in going down with them. General Ortega has brought troops so they can search the path for those peasants…" he said as he turned and helped Bartholomew walk.

"Otto, he had the sword!" Bartholomew said, starting to sound like a broken record.

Otto grunted. He knew how Bartholomew felt. The humiliating defeat suffered by the Evadeus family would never be forgotten for every time Otto looked above the throne he would one day sit on, the sword was missing. Lost on the battlefield forever. The last time the sword was seen was when Darius was king. He led a battle and he had died during it, losing the sword forever. On the sword were all the inscriptions of the Evadeus family, including the founder, Peter Evadeus.

"I know. If they hadn't fallen off that cliff…I would have taken that sword from their cold dead hands." Otto growled as they went through the eerily quiet forest and Otto helped Bartholomew get on his horse.

"Father will want to know about this." Bartholomew winced as the horses started to move and the 2 brothers and their soldiers galloped back to Adrianople.

**Darkness**

"Ohaha. What do we have here? Some children?"

Hyde couldn't even feel his arms. His head was spinning and he had the biggest headache in the world. A burst of light lit up the cave and he saw a man holding a lantern. He was young, wearing a marine uniform with the ancient medals covered in rust and barnacles. His sandy blonde hair and his white sailors hat was a perfect match. He was wearing a dark blue uniform with a white stripe running down his pants his face was kind. Hyde tried to sit up. Where were they? Some kind of cave?

The scenery came into view as Hyde looked around. Stony walls surrounded them and…was that some kind of lake in the back ground? And was that wooden thing…a ship? Suddenly something squirmed underneath Hyde. He looked down to see that he was sitting on Lidia.

"Hyde...your please get off me." She asked.

Hyde grinned and the sailor guy also looked amused.

"Say please." Hyde said, trying not to laugh.

"…this is embarrassing. Please?" Lidia said from underneath him.

Hyde got up and looked around. Sure enough, a cave. But where were Lucia, Hitoshi and Tadaaki? They didn't seem to be around anywhere… A blast of cold water shot Hyde and Lidia in the face as they stood. The mud blasted from their clothes and Hyde looked angrily at the sailor guy who was holding a hose with water dripping from it.

"What was that for!" demanded Hyde.

The sailor guy laughed and put the hose away.

"Your clothes were dirty. And you looked like you could use some cold water." He said, laughing hysterically.

Lidia stood up and glared. She was sopping wet but at least the mud had come off of her tattered cloak and clothes.

"I don't think that it is very nice to spray a lady like that." She said, turning her nose up like a noble girl would.

The sailor just laughed again. His face was like a 20 year olds but why was he in a cave like this?

"Ah, forgot to introduce myself. My name is Norman Terrice. If your wondering, your friends are hanging out near my ship." Norman said friendly.

Lidia looked at Norman suspiciously. She had heard that name before…Norman…. Suddenly it hit her. Her father had once shown her a page in a war records about a man named Norman. Her mouth fell open and she just stared at the man.

"Norman Terrice? You must be at least 200 years old!" she shouted.

Hyde was one again, confused. Why did Lidia know so much but Hyde knew so little?

"Wait, whos this Norman guy again?" Hyde asked as he watched the sailor nod with pride.

"Yes ma'am. My name is Norman Terrice and I am over 200 years old." Norman agreed.

"You're the captain of the Rune Knight Navy ship, King's Fish, that disappeared suddenly! But how could you end up here? Where is your crew?" Lidia asked, shocked to meet Norman here of all places.

"Wait, so your saying, that this guy. Sailed that ship," Hyde pointed to the big ship behind Norman. "Over 200 years ago for the Rune Knight Navy?" Hyde said, not believing any of this.

Norman nodded and showed Hyde an old rusted metal with a green background and a bass on it.

"That's my captain's medal. Serex Yosser himself gave it to me! I reckon I should be heading back to the Rune Knight Navy base. Iv been here for a long time." Norman said, nodding to himself.

Suddenly a window opened from the back of the ship. It was Tadaaki, in his usual spirit.

"Hey! Are you losers going to sit there and nod your heads for the whole day?" he shouted.

"Tadaaki shut up!" they heard Hitoshi yell.

"Hey, how about you both calm down." Lucia said from the boat.

Lidia and Hyde sighed as they followed Norman up to the boat. It was a grand boat with the cannons set straight, the barrels intact, the rope still in good condition. However, the crew was nowhere to be found.

"Wow, so I guess your crew all, died?" Hyde asked as Norman opened the door to the captain's quarters.

Inside where Lucia, Hitoshi and Tadaaki. They sat on sofas arranged around the huge room.

"Your right about my crew. They all died a long time ago. My ship was damaged badly when we barely managed to find this cave. I have been spending most of my life fixing the ship so I can sail away and rejoin the Rune Knight Navy." Norman said proudly.

Awkward silence filled the room. Lidia looked over at Tadaaki who looked over at Lucia who looked over at Hitoshi and they all looked at Hyde. Hyde sighed. Always the unlucky one.

"Norman. The Rune Knight Navy doesn't exist anymore." Hyde told him.

**Adrianople**

Cyrus sat on his throne, closing his eyes. He was tired and he wanted to spend time in quiet. The doors to the throne room opened and Otto and Bartholomew came in. They wore their finest dress for the festival today. All the former nobles were invited. Otto and Bartholomew nodded to their father. Cyrus shifted on his throne. He wanted to hear what his sons had to say.

"So, what do you want to say to me…" Cyrus said, looking at his sons.

"We did not get the bottom part. But we did find who has the sword." Otto said.

Cyrus nodded. Not finding the bottom part was…disappointing but it was good news to find out that the sword had been found.

"And who has our family sword?" Cyrus asked.

Bartholomew answered this question. He still had not forgotten that confrontation in the woods…

"We searched for a while but we finally found out who he was. Hyde, a former Blue Army mercenary. I don't know how he found the sword but he has it." Bartholomew said angrily.

The doors to the throne room opened again and Livia entered. She wore a pure white dress that made her hair stand out and she stood behind her brothers.

"Father, the first guests have arrived. Also, I would like to request extra food and drink for the homeless beggars outside of the fortress." She said as her brothers glared at her and she glared back.

"Very well. Have the cooks work on over time. Now leave me. I must go…and do…things…" Cyrus said as he stood from the throne and walked into a side corridor.

He walked swiftly down the corridor and he came to the rusty iron door. Undo the lock, open the door. Cyrus flicked on the lights and he went straight through the room to the place where he had left the golden piece. He flung the cloth aside, to find….nothing. Cyrus stumbled back in shock, knocking over several antique vases and chattering them.

"M-my…my golden piece!" he screamed in anger as he smashed his foot into other various pieces.

Cyrus slammed his fist down on the door and he turned away from the artifacts and he left the room in furious anger, not even locking the door.

**Norman's Cave**

Norman looked shocked.

"What do you mean the Rune Knight Navy doesn't exist anymore?" he said, shocked by the news.

Hyde continued telling him.

"While you were stuck in this cave, the Garlan Consulate attacked the capitol of Arcana. They dissolved the Wizard Council and now, the Rune Knights don't exist. The navy right now is called the Dark Water Fleet. Im sorry Norman." Hyde said softly.

Norman paused for a second. He seemed to be getting a headache. He leaned against the wall of the cabin.

"My career…does that mean im no longer a captain?" Norman asked sadly as he looked at everyone.

"Im afraid so…" Lucia said as she stood.

Norman nodded.

"Fine…well then. Where, would you guys like to go…" Norman asked.

**Walls of Adrianople**

2 soldiers stood on the walls of the fortress of Adrianople. They were smoking and their cigars made glowing lights in the cold night air. Their Black Armor was hard to spot in the darkness and a Red Army general stood nearby, also looking into the black night. Within the fortress, a festival was going on. Singing, dancing, courting, the likes.

"So, did you say that we are building something top secret?" asked one of the soldiers.

"Yeh. I heard one of the generals say it. I heard its some sort of metal box that can move on its own…" the other said.

The soldier took a drag from his cigar and thought.

"Huh, I don't think that's possible. Don't carriages need magical energy or horses to move?"

The other soldier shook his head.

"Nope, this one apparently uses this black liquid to move."

The soldier still didn't believe him. He threw his cigar over the wall and he turned to face the general.

"Hey, sir. Is there a-"

The soldier never finished his sentence as suddenly he was pulled over the walls. He went screaming but nobody heard him over the wind and the sound of the festival. The other soldier raised his rifle but a knife flew from the darkness and struck his chest and he fell over the walls. The general drew his sword and he held out his pistol. Something black flipped over the walls and landed in front of the general. It was a man wearing all black, medium height, black hair, a single glowing red eye and a metal sheath attached to his arm.

"Who the hell are you!" the general shouted as he reached for the alarm on the wall.

"I am Wulf." The man said as a long pointed blade fell from the metal sheath.

The man disarmed the general in a single move and sent the blade piercing through the general's chest and sent him flying over the edge.

**I think this is my longest chapter. Anyways, to elaborate on the guild system. There are several types of dark guilds. Bandit guilds, the usual bad people. Pirate guilds, pretty obvious what they are. Assassin guilds, obvious. And Sorcerer guilds. They are the strongest dark guilds. I hope you liked this chapter! A lot of things happened in this chapter! FF**


	6. Helmsman

**Yay, a post! By the way, if you guys want updates on how chapters are coming along, then just look on my profile. I update that to tell you guys how things are going. I will also be posting challenges on there as well, if anyone wants to take them. Also, quick sidenote. The Garlan Consulate changed its name to the Garlan Empire. Lets get on with the story.**

**King's Fish**

The ship moved incredibly fast. It sped along the water, passing towns and seagulls. The salt could be smelled in the air as the ship cut through the water. Hyde stared out at the huge ocean. His hair was whipping around in the wind and his eyes were focused on the deep blue water. He didn't really like the ocean because not much was known about the ocean. He was the only one on deck and everyone else was eating and Norman was piloting the ship. It was good luck that the Fog Isles were not very far away. Hyde was dying to know the mysteries of the islands. People said that it was a cursed chain of islands. Others said that it was home to sorcerers. Whatever was really there, Hyde was ready to take them on.

They had only been sailing for a few hours. Hyde was especially dying to know what the inscription said on the silver piece and on his sword. What had that blonde said? He had the sword? The captain's quarters doors opened and Lidia came out with Tadaaki and Hitoshi. The 2 twins looked off the side of the boat and pointed at the fishes as they swam next to the boat. Lidia stood next to Hyde.

"You must be wondering about me…" Lidia said suddenly.

Hyde just stood there in awkward silence. Truth was, he did really want to know more about her past. He knew almost nothing about her besides the fact that her name was Lidia James.

"Yeah, you are a mystery." Hyde admitted as the ship came over a huge wave.

Lidia smiled and smoothed out her long brown hair.

"Fine, ill tell you. Im not from noble birth if you wanted to know. My father is a well known military general and I live in Adrianople. That's pretty much all I can tell you. But tell me something about yourself Hyde. You seem to be a bigger mystery then I am." Lidia said as Hyde looked at her.

"Alright, fair enough. Im actually the 4th oldest from a family of 14 kids. I was pretty much a mercenary at birth. My entire family is made up of mercenary soldiers and I started fighting when I was only 7 years old. Some of my brothers and sisters are famous mercenaries. I fought with the Garlan Empire for a while and I eventually quit because my contract had run out. I wander from place to place." Hyde said.

"I see, Chain Soldiers. It's a system in which 2 mercenaries give birth to kids who will grow up to be mercenaries themselves. They are encouraged to have as many children as possible to make the overall group bigger. They also fight better because they are a family… Interesting…" Lidia mused.

"That's pretty much my whole life. But do you know anything about the Fog Isles?" Hyde asked Lidia.

"Im not an expert but I know that no one has stepped foot on the isles and lived to tell the tale. The rumors about the isles being inhabited by sorcerers is most likely true." Lidia said to Hyde.

Suddenly Norman shouted from the upper deck where he was piloting the ship.

"Dense fog incoming! We should be getting close!" he shouted as he pointed towards a huge cloud of fog coming towards them.

Sure enough, the grayish clouds rolled over the entire ship as they moved into the fog. It was impossible to see anything.

"Whoa…" Tadaaki said as he reached out into the fog.

Lucia came out from the captain's quarters and she was holding an amulet that looked like a shield. She looked around the deck and made her way to the front where Hyde and Lidia were.

"Fog is pretty thick. I cant see anything." She said as she looked around.

"Yeah, we could smash against some rocks if we aren't careful…" Lidia said, worried.

**D.F Helmsman**

The Helmsman was one of the biggest ships in the Dark Water Fleet. It was armed with 12 quad groupings of rotating cannons and it had the finest steel armor plating. The Admiral, Zarius Jackson, stood holding a pair of infared binoculars. He was scanning the dense fog when suddenly a sailor tapped him on the shoulder. He turned and looked at him.

"What is it." He asked the sailor.

"We found a ship sir! Should we fire or let it pass?" he asked.

"Fire. No ships are allowed in this area without direct clearance from me or any other admiral." He said as he put the binoculars away.

The sailor ran off to prepare the gun crews and the other sailors loaded cannon balls in the cannons and used infared targeting systems to see King's Fish in the heavy fog.

"Fire!" shouted Zarius.

**King's Fish**

The first cannon ball smashed into the sails. It tore a huge hole in the white sail and soon more cannonballs were flying through the fog. Everyone on the deck took cover as a cannon ball completely destroyed a side of the railing. Norman shouted something but no one could hear.

"How in the world are they shooting at us?" Hyde shouted as a cannonball destroyed the mast and sent it crashing into the ocean.

"I don't know! They must be using infared systems! They can see the heat in our bodies! We cant do anything if we cant even see them!" Lidia shouted.

Lucia looked up at that. She was grinning.

"I think I can help you with that." She said as she stood and took off her eye patch.

The fog completely disappeared from the area Lucia was looking at. She turned her head to find the ship that was shooting at them and she soon found them. She pointed at the ships.

"There they are!" she shouted.

Norman looked up and jumped down from the upper deck. He looked at the ships and nodded.

"Looks to be good. Basic steel plating, quad grouped cannons. Easy." Norman said as he took a stance in the middle of the deck.

"What are you doing!" shouted Hitoshi.

"I got this! I can use magic too!" Norman shouted.

The group watched as Norman put his hand on the ship's deck. Immediately, the ship's sides slanted and iron sheets rolled down the wooden sides. The cannons balls that struck the metal plating bounced harmlessly off the sides. Norman grinned as he pointed to one of the cannons and it fired automatically.

"Command!" he shouted as all the cannons swiveled in the direction of the enemy ships.

"And conquer!" Norman shouted as all the cannons fired at the same time and the cannonballs hurtled towards the enemy ships.

"Those cannonballs wont get past that thick metal plating!" Hyde shouted.

Norman grinned. He seemed really confident.

"Oh they will, I guarantee it." He said.

The cannonballs struck the ship's metal plating, and exploded. The effect was immediate. The metal plating seemed to melt off the sides of the ships and Norman continuously fired shot after shot. The ships buckled under the massive barrage of cannonballs and they soon sank underneath the ocean. Norman clapped and the cannons returned to their original positions. Everyone looked amazed. Norman could control the entire ship!

"Your magic allows you to control this ship?" Hyde said, amazed.

"Yep. Comes in handy when you don't have a crew." Norman said as he looked to the front of the ship and pointed.

Everyone looked where Norman was pointing and they saw a huge forest open up from the fog. Thin fog was coming from the dark forest. The boat grounded on the sandy shores and everyone nervously got off the boat. The isles were, different. Something was just completely off with the place.

"The Fog Isles…im surprised we aren't dead yet…" Hyde said as he looked around.

Hitoshi and Tadaaki looked even more nervous than Hyde.

"This place really isn't good….i can feel it." They both said as they shivered.

"In any case," Norman brought a lantern from his pack and lit it. "We should get moving. You need an artifact decoded right?"

Everyone nodded and they started to walk into the dark forest. It was surprisingly peaceful with the chirping of birds and crickets. Huge trees with black trunks grew from the mossy ground and wet dew hung from the blades of grass. The only light was the lantern Norman held in his hand. Suddenly there was a crunching noise and Lidia suddenly screamed and made everyone jump.

"Whats going on Lidia?" shouted Hyde from the back.

Everyone was crowding around Lidia. She was pointing to something on the ground. It was white, and it was cracked in half. A, skeleton? Hyde knelt down and picked up the white pieces on the ground.

"Bones…" he said.

Tadaaki pointed to a bush on the side of the group. A rusty sword and helmet lay in the bushes and another skeleton was inside the bush, grinning at the group.

"My god…they are Rune Knight soldiers…" Norman said as he picked up the rusty sword.

Hyde looked into the bush and he gasped when he saw the wet swamp filled with the skeletal bodies of soldiers. But what was most disturbing of all was a huge cross made of bone and half a skeleton hung from it. The other half, lay submerged in the ground. Hyde walked back and he was starting to feel sick.

"Guys…something really bad happened here…" Hyde said as a wolf suddenly jumped from the bushes and howled.

Everyone jumped at the sudden disturbance. The wolf barred its teeth and ran off, deeper into the forest.

"A w-wolf?" Lucia said as several more wolves followed the lead wolf.

Soon, the entire path was filled with wolves, howling. Everyone watched them run and pretty soon, grizzly bears were following the wolves too.

"I, I think the want us to follow them…" Lidia said carefully.

"Is this a good idea? We just saw a mass grave. I really don't want to go follow those wolves, DEEPER into the forest." Tadaaki said as he glanced nervously at the skeletons.

Norman shrugged. The lantern was starting to die.

"Do we have a choice? The lantern is almost out of fuel. We have to make a decision." He said as he held up the lantern.

Hyde nodded and pointed to where the wolves had run off to.

"I say we follow the wolves. Just hope this isn't a trap…" Hyde said as everyone ran after the wolves.

The wolves moved fast but the grizzlies were slow and the group sped past them with ease. They soon became aware of the light in Norman's lantern completely dying out and they were running in pure darkness, guided by the howling of wolves. The ground eventually went from smooth moss to hard stone and they might have been running on a road.

"Hold on, I see a light…" Lucia said as she looked ahead.

"Wow, about time." Lidia grumbled as they continued running.

They eventually came to the source of the light. 2 blue glowing lanterns with 2 wolves standing in front of them. Huge double doors made of black wood stood behind them and they were attached into some sort of cave. Was this their base? The wolves suddenly shifted into 2 men wearing brown cloaks with their hoods up. The group couldn't see their faces as they each put a hand on the huge doors and pushed them open like they weighed nothing.

"Welcome to the court of Witch Queen Erica. Pray that she lets you live for trespassing on sacred land…" they said together as the doors swung open.

Hyde's chest was about to explode. This was it.

**This is actually a lot shorter than I wanted it to be. But im really sick right now and I really shouldn't be pushing myself. Now, there was a question about Wulf from last chapter and that will be answered in a few chapters or so. I actually had to cut out the part in Adrianople for next chapter. Anyways, I hope you guys liked it. This week will be almost pure circle work besides the last chapter of Last Nightmare Mage going up this week. Hope you enjoyed it! FF**


	7. Queen of Witches, Erica

**Long chapter today! Some new characters are introduced and I really like them. Thanks to those who have reviewed so far! I also have a few stories in mind for side projects, The Sun Thief and Dragon Myth. They are both OC stories so if anyone wants to know about that, PM me. You get to meet Tate and Crack in this chapter although they only appear for a short amount of time. They will be explained further later. Lets get on with the story!**

**Adrianople, the fortress**

Wulf ran through the hallways of the fortress. He was the guild master of the most infamous assassin guild in the world, Inner Circle. He was not very tall which made it easy for him to squeeze into tight spaces. He was thin, black hair and dark eyes that made it easy for him to hide. A metal sheath was attached to the top of his right arm that held his sword inside. He wore all black clothes and the only thing that could be seen under his black hood was a single glowing red eye. He entered the throne room stealthily and he quickly ducked in front of a pillar. There were many people having a party and people were dancing and eating. Wulf grabbed onto the pillar like it was a tree with branches and he zipped up the pillar like a gecko on a tree. He climbed to the top and then jumped from pillar to pillar until he finally came to the one that was closest to his destination. He was on the left of the huge throne room and he saw that Cyrus's throne was empty. He moved to the left side of the pillar, out of sight from anyone who would look up. He quickly came down from the pillar and pulled out a knife. It was made of a sharp black material and he quickly rolled into the side hallway.

Nobody was in the hallway and Wulf quickly ran up to the iron door and inspected the lock. Not locked. Wuld held the dagger ready in case it was a trap. He pulled the door open and flicked on the lights to see that the room was filled with artifacts and treasures. Wulf walked around the room, scanning for that golden piece… Wulf noticed that a small table had been recently destroyed and saw that there was an old cloth flung on the floor. He looked at the table and looked at the cloth. Wulf let out one of his rare laughs and turned to leave the room.

"So the rumors are true…" Wulf said to himself as he walked into the hallway and jumped back onto one of the pillars.

**Court of the Witch Queen, Erica**

Hyde and the others were ushered into a huge room made of stone. Torches hung from the stony walls and a huge pale purple rug with brown trimmings was laid out on a set of huge stone stairs. At the top of the stairs sat a woman with dark brown hair, wearing normal dress. Her eyes were blood red and she seemed to be listening to something the 2 people who stood next to her throne were saying. One of them was a short old man wearing a 3 cornered hat and looked to be blind. The other was a young woman with dark purple hair with a cocky smile wearing tattered grey robes. She was of medium height and seemed to be debating fiercely with the blind man.

"However, Noland. These are visitors…we must treat them as such." The woman said to the old man.

Their voices carried through the chamber filled with other people wearing the brown robes like the 2 wolf/men they had met outside. However, they parted as the group walked up the stairs towards the woman on the throne.

"Gastinfer! You are a former goddess! I am a sorcerer! I have lived here for centuries! I know the rules to this place inside and out!" the old man shouted at the woman.

The woman on the throne seemed to be getting bored. She eyed the group with interest, Lidia in particular. She clapped her hands and the 2 advisors stopped talking. The woman on the throne shifted so her back was straight. She scanned the group and smiled slowly.

"I see. Welcome to the Fog Isles. You are the first group to touch foot on this land since those foolish Rune Knights and their leader, Solomon." She said dryly.

Norman took the offensive. He was getting angry, fists clenched.

"Hey! Solomon was my best mate!" he shouted angrily, his voice echoing over the huge chamber.

Noland seemed to be trembling in anger. His fists glowed black.

"Such arrogance!" Noland hissed.

The queen held up her hand and Noland backed off. He still clenched his fists and teeth. Noland was looking up defiantly at the queen. Her gaze seemed to have a dizzying effect on everyone. Hyde felt himself wanting to tip over.

"Solomon trespassed on sacred ground. Just as you are doing. I have the right to kill all of you and it does not go against my personal morals. Those morals, are the laws of this kingdom." The queen said as she sat back in the throne and brought her right hand up to her forehead to brace it.

Lidia smiled. The queen was brilliant! She was using her laws as a backing for her actions but keeping the threat of death as a side method! Norman seemed to sense this too and he backed off.

"It seems that you have brought something to be examined by us?" Gastinfer suddenly said, looking at Hyde.

Hyde couldn't help but shudder as Gastinfer's gaze fell on him. His clothes seemed paper thin and he knew his sword wouldn't help him much if they got in a fight…

"Yes, we do. It's a very old piece, engraved in Sagonian." Hitoshi piped up.

Everyone in the chamber seemed to gasp. Gastinfer raised her eyebrow. The queen sat forward in her throne. Was this true? A piece of Sagonian arms?

"Present it to me. Whether or not this piece is of significant value determines your life." The queen said as she held out her hand.

Everyone's lives over a piece of silver? Hyde didn't like the odds. Hitoshi even said the piece was cursed! Nervousness was filling Hyde as he took the piece from his pack and held it up. Everyone in the crowd gasped and fell to their knees, bowing to the piece. Even Noland dropped to one knee. However, Gastinfer stood looking at the piece with amusement. The queen just squinted at the letters engraved in the piece, reading it with high interest. Suddenly Gastinfer started to laugh. It was a beautiful laugh but it didn't match her type of character.

"Oh what a day!" she laughed as she doubled over.

Everyone remained kneeling and Hyde and his friends looked at each other with confusion. Why was Gastinfer laughing so hard? What was so funny about this silver piece that apparently held importance to the people of the Fog Isles? Gastinfer managed to gain control of herself, occasionally giggling.

"You have found it! When I heard from my sister that Cyrus had found the middle piece I was starting to get worried!" Gastinfer said, joy filling her eyes.

Lucia and Tadaaki looked at each other. The name Gastinfer sounded odd. It didn't sound like a northern name but there was a name like it in a book about the travels of Noel Evadeus, the name was Jalginfer and the book said that she was Death herself… Tadaaki took the bold step forward. He addressed her directly.

"Gastinfer, are you perhaps, a goddess?" Tadaaki asked, looking right at Gastinfer.

She smiled and smoothed her clothes. She seemed to be relieved.

"Why yes. I was a goddess at one point. However, I am a mortal now. However, my sister, Deception visits me from time to time. However, the piece you hold-"

"Is a piece of immeasurable importance. Do you know what the inscription says on that piece?" the queen suddenly said.

Everyone shook their heads. The queen smiled and Gastinfer started to laugh again.

"The inscription says, 'creates war'. The artifact that you hold was one of a bigger artifact called the Circle of Peace." The queen said.

Circle of Peace? Sounded good to Hyde. But something wasn't right. She was holding something back. Lucia asked a good question.

"But why would anyone be worried about someone finding the middle piece? Wouldn't it be better if the pieces were found?" Lucia asked, her gaze concerned.

Gastinfer shook her head and snapped her fingers. All around the halls, the torches dimmed and an ancient video recording appeared in the middle of the hall. All of the people had risen by then and saluted as a man appeared on screen. He was a huge man with enormous muscles and a strong looking chest. He had a beard of dark black hair and he was bent over a forge. He kept hammering and he didn't stop until he suddenly tossed the piece he was working on in a barrel of water and fished it out after waiting for a few seconds. When it was pulled out, the silver shinned brightly and looked EXACTLY like the piece Hyde was holding. But it was a complete circle with a golden centerpiece in the middle and another half around it. Suddenly the video shifted to a battle scene and the huge man raised the circle high into the air and the opposing army ran screaming to their ships. The torches started to relight after that and Gastinfer turned to the group.

"_That_ dreamy hunk of a man was Mastu. He was the first king of the Fog Isles although it was known as the Sagonian Empire at that point in time. He was the first magical blacksmith and he was the one who created the Circle of Peace. The army that ran screaming when he raised it? The Hijan Empire. The circle became so well known for its destructive power. Matsu was a very, weird guy. He named it the Circle of Peace because it was used to cause wars and THEN create peace. He led the Sagonians to victory time and time again SIMPLY by raising that circle. Its magical power was indisputable. Matsu only had to use it once and it sunk most of the Fog Isles underwater." Gastinfer explained to the group.

Lidia just stood in awe. Was this true? This was something completely new, something she had never encountered before. Historians never taught this and she had personally never come across a story as gripping as this one. Lidia was completely captivated by this story. The queen nodded her head and Noland cleared his throat. The queen nodded to him.

"The Fog Isles, used to be the 6th continent. The biggest. However, Matsu used the circle and blew most of it underwater and sent the other pieces floating off in different directions. What remained is the Fog Isles today. The power of the circle is immense. If it fell into the hands of someone like Cyrus, he would rule with absolute authority." Noland said as he explained and nodded.

Hyde and the others looked at each other. They were thinking how much of this was really true?

"So, Lidia. I am making a deal with you. The very fact that you carry the piece means that you must finish it. Finish the circle and destroy it once and for all! Also, promise me, that you will depose Cyrus once you finish the circle. I want you to destroy the city of Adrianople and show him the power of the circle! His ships constantly harass us and block us from any sort of contact!" the queen said as she looked at Lidia.

Destroy Adrianople? The city was home to more than a million people, most of them civilians…what was the queen really playing at? Lidia smiled and knelt. Hyde and the others just stared in disbelief. Was she really going to do this?

"I swear, Queen Erica." Lidia said as she stood.

The queen looked amused as Lidia stood and matched her gaze.

"So you know my name is Erica. How?" Erica asked.

Hitoshi and Tadaaki grinned. Why hadn't they thought of this sooner?

"The eyes! Our father used to tell us of a man with blood red eyes that could make people kill themselves! The Suicide Eyes!" they said together.

The queen laughed and stood from her throne.

"Correct. That was my son, Hudson. However, he is dead. My daughter Aly-"

There was a distant thudding noise and shouting outside of the halls. Erica looked at the doors of the hall as they opened and the 2 gatekeepers came in. They looked slightly worried.

"My queen! Dark Water Fleet ships have come and are bombarding the shores! They seem to be preparing to send soldiers onto the beach!" they shouted as a thudding was heard again.

Erica nodded to Noland and Gastinfer. She ran ahead with her followers shouting at them to fight. As she ran out of the hall she shouted something to Lidia.

"Do not forget our deal!" she shouted as she ran out of the hall.

Everyone watched the group leave and they looked at Gastinfer and Noland who were standing in front of them.

"Its time for you to leave. Don't worry about _my_ health. My sisters will protect me." Gastinfer said dryly as a blue glow surrounded the group.

"To Ennersville!" Noland shouted as there was a flash of bright light.

**Adrianople, the underground facility**

A group of people stood around a black cloth. They all wore black coats and they were vastly different to each other. One was a small elderly woman with once beautiful blonde hair. She seemed to be staring intently at the cloth. One was a middle aged man with smoothed dark brown hair and a bored look on his face. He was fiddling with something underneath his lab coat. The last was a woman with long blonde hair and was writing something on a clipboard. The cloth seemed to be draped over some sort of rectangular object. The front sloped down and the back seemed to be hollow. It was taller than the old woman but not as tall as the middle aged man. They were standing in some sort of repair garage.

Filled with old tools and gadgets. The door to the facility opened and Cyrus and his sons and daughter came in. They didn't bow to each other and seemed to be of equal rank. Otto and Bartholomew hugged the elderly woman and nodded to the other two. Livia however, seemed to be ecstatic and hugged the woman with unheard of force.

"Bubucai*!" she shouted happily as she hugged the old woman.

The woman chuckled and hugged Livia back. The woman was smiling but the man still looked bored. Livia hugged the 2 adults together. The man pated her head while the woman hugged her back.

"Uncle Crack and Aunt Tate!" Livia said happily.

Crack shrugged his shoulders and turned back to the cloth.

"Can we get to this already? We already spread the wanted posters and everything. I would LIKE to present this, all of my hard work. Instead we waste our time greeting family which we have known, _forever._" Crack said as he looked at the others with a dry look on his face.

Cyrus nodded and gestured for Crack to begin. Crack grabbed the black cloth and pulled it away to reveal a strange metal contraption that had 2 metal seats in the front with a glass panel at the front. 3 slotted pieces of metal protected a shiny metal box with turning gears inside. In the back was a metal rectangle that was hollowed out and replaced with benches with cushions. The back of had a door that could be opened and the sides were low enough so that people could jump in our jump out the sides. Cyrus and his sons walked around the contraption nodding their heads. Livia glared at it in distaste. Crack tapped the dull greenish metal that made a solid THUNK.

"As you can see, a solid design. Not even a bullet will pass through this. It runs on this strange black liquid that burns surprisingly well, being a liquid. The natives called it, Propane. We have thousands and thousands of barrels of this stuff. Scouting parties can move out faster with this then they can with horses and chariots. The 6 wheels allow for easy maneuvering and can be replaced with treads if necessary.*" Crack said as he stepped back and looked smug.

Cyrus grunted his approval.

"When can these be given to each scouting party." He asked as Otto and Bartholomew climbed into it.

Tate spoke up. She didn't seem to like the vehicle either.

"This is only a prototype. Should take a few months to truly work out all the problems." She said.

Cyrus nodded and grinned. He was starting to formulate a plan. He had no idea where his golden piece was…but he had a hunch and a something like this would help him get there faster…

"Good. I am satisfied with this work. Otto, Bartholomew, come with me. We have things to plan…" Cyrus said as he turned and left the facility.

The old woman watched Cyrus leave and shook her head.

"My my. My son already grown up. King already?" she asked as she turned to Crack and Tate who were being hugged by Livia.

"I…don't like people…" Crack said distastefully.

Livia stopped hugging them and looked at the vehicle with hate in her eyes.

"Why was something like this even created? It is ugly, it burns a strange black chemical that gives off a foul smell and it serves only to kill things! What if you mounted a gun on that thing! You would be unstoppable!" she said as she kicked the vehicle and grabbed her foot in pain.

Tate looked sympathetically at Livia. She didn't like it either but Cyrus had seemed dead on creating it.

"I know but it had to be made. Whatever your dad is planning, it must involve death and destruction…"

**Ennersville**

The bright light vanished and the group found themselves standing in front of Beast Spirit where they had first left off. The sky was clear and the sun bright and sunny. The townspeople were out doing business. Hitoshi and Tadaaki looked behind them at their house and gasped. The wall was destroyed. The entire wall, lay in crumbled rock and the hammers used to destroy the wall lay unattended in the grass. Hitoshi and Tadaaki stormed up the hill and looked at the rocks angrily.

"I knew it! I knew I should have been suspicious!" Hitoshi said angrily as he kicked a piece of rock away.

Tadaaki was about to say something when a patrol of soldiers were coming up the street. They carried a piece of paper in their hands and they were looking at it when they looked up and saw Hyde. They looked surprised and they looked back down at the paper. The ran forward shouting.

"Its him! Get that man!" they shouted as they ran for Hyde.

"Guys! We have to move!" shouted Lucia as she pushed Hyde and Lidia up the street and past Hitoshi and Tadaaki.

Suddenly bells and whistles were going off on every street as the group blasted past grain carts and knocked ovoer baskets in an attempt to escape.

"Take a right here! It leads to the old library!" Hitoshi shouted as he pulled a map of the city from memory and pointed to the end of the alleyway they were running in.

The group turned right and ran quickly up the library doors and Hyde and Hitoshi grabbed the ancient metal door knobs when suddenly ropes flew from behind them. Soldiers already?

"Grapplers!" Lucia screamed as she cut a rope in half with her dagger.

Lidia was about to scream something when a rope went around her neck and pulled her down the stairs. She screamed as she went, fear flooding her eyes.

"H-Hyde!" she screamed as the rope was pulled tightly around her neck and she was dragged to the side of a horse on which a man wearing the armor of a general was sitting.

The man had a fancy moustache and he looked proud and arrogant. He was surrounded by soldiers of the Red Army.

"Looks like we got another one. Catch the others too if you can." The man said as he whipped his horse in the other direction and the horse galloped away, dragging Lidia screaming away.

"Yes general Ortega." The soldiers said as they got their ropes ready.

Hyde stood frozen in time, watching helplessly as Lidia was dragged away… Suddenly he was pushed into the library, the ground toppling on top of him. He saw Lucia and Hitoshi slam the library doors shut and place huge wooden beams across the metal placeholders. Hyde sat there for a while on the ground, angry with himself. What kind of bodyguard was he? He was hired to do a job…and he failed. He felt angry tears come to his eyes and he completely shut out the world and until Tadaaki grabbed him and pulled him upright. He was not in his usual goofy mood.

"Whats going on Hyde. Lidia just got taken by some general. Care to tell me how we are going to get her back, Mr. Bodyguard?" Tadaaki asked angrily.

Lucia, Hitoshi and Norman moved to stop him but Hyde held up his hand. Tadaaki was right. It was his fault. Hyde fell back onto a pile of books and he sighed.

"Guys, im afraid that I do have a plan." Hyde said, barely piecing together the first plan that came to mind.

It was childish, something he and his brothers used to do in their mercenary days. Of course, it was still a huge risk back in the day but childish things were the only things Hyde thought about right now. Hyde stood, feeling depressed. His friends were NOT going to like this at all. He sighed and frowned deeply.

"Alright….heres the plan…."

**Took a while to finish this chapter but I wanted to bring you guys to cliffhanger. Anyways, the Sun Thief should be coming soon and the Dragon Myth is taking a bit more time than usual. If you guys would like to send OCs for those stories, feel free. Anyways, Fatherfail here. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! FF**


	8. First Consul

**And here is the new chapter. Dragon Myth was released today so check that out and submit OCs if you want. Pretty excited to post this today. Anyways, lets go.**

**Old Library**

Hyde looked over at the library doors that were being held in place by 2 huge wooden beams. The doors were rumbling because the soldiers were pushing on the doors.

"How many soldiers were out there?" Hyde asked.

"Only 3. Do you want us to finish them?" Hitoshi asked as he walked over to the wooden beams and waited.

Hyde thought and he nodded his head.

"Everyone ready to fight? We might have to run quickly after we finish these guys. Hitoshi, where is the fastest way out of the city. Preferably next to a forest." Hyde asked Hitoshi.

Hitoshi thought and he snapped his fingers.

"We can go through this old library and there should be some woods in the back. Tadaaki, am I right?" Hitoshi asked his brother.

Tadaaki nodded and Hyde drew his sword. Lucia took out an amulet and Tadaaki stared intently at the door. Hitoshi grabbed the huge beam of wood and he slid it out of the metal place holders. The doors burst open and 3 soldiers came running in with their swords drawn. Hyde's sword flashed and a soldier fell, blood splattering his red uniform.

"Paul! Lets do this!" Lucia shouted as the amulet glowed and a knight holding a sword and shield and wearing full armor appeared.

"I got this!" Paul shouted as he smashed his shield into one of the soldiers and knocked him into the ground.

"Light Dragon's Claw!" Tadaaki shouted as he slashed his hand in front of the soldier.

The man fell back screaming and grabbing his face. He fell to the floor and twitched for a few seconds. Then he fell silent and stopped moving. Hyde came over and wiped the blood off on his sword on one of the red uniforms. He inspected the uniforms and nodded.

"Put these on guys." Hyde said as he took the red metal studded cloak off the soldier and slipped it over himself.

Tadaaki was starting to wipe the blood off the uniforms but Hyde stopped him.

"Don't wipe the blood off. We only have 5 people in our group right now. That's enough for a scouting party but this armor is too heavy. We need the blood to look like we were just in a battle." Hyde explained as Tadaaki nodded and handed the uniform to Hitoshi.

Norman looked at the last uniform and frowned.

"There are 5 of us but only 3 uniforms. What happens to the 2 that don't wear the uniforms?" Norman asked as Hyde grabbed the last uniform and handed it to Norman.

Hyde smiled slyly as he strapped on the red helmet that covered his eyes.

"That's why I asked Hitoshi to give me a place with woods nearby. Fortunately, we just have to leave the library through the back door and head into the woods. The woods are frequently patrolled by soldiers and we can easily acquire 2 more uniforms. Me and my brothers used to do this all the time. We would wear the uniforms of the dead enemy soldiers and pretend to be in the enemy army. It was risky but fun." Hyde explained.

Norman nodded and slipped the metal studded cloak over his clothes. He stared down at the shiny metal studs in the cloak and looked up at Hyde.

"Why are there metal studs in my armor?" he asked as he showed Hyde.

"Those are actually the heads of rivets. The metal plating is pretty lightweight but it goes on the inside and not the outside. Im pretty used to it but it might take you guys a few hours to get used to it." Hyde grunted as he strapped the red leather mouth guard on.

Norman and Hitoshi finished putting on the heavy armor and Hyde handed him 2 swords that the soldiers were carrying. Hitoshi twisted them around in his hands. They were curved, unlike the blades Hitoshi was used to. He swung them around and he smashed the blade through a stake of dusty books. Hitoshi nodded as he pulled the blades out of the stack of books.

'Curved so that they wont stick to the target. Smart.' Hitoshi thought as he grabbed another sword sheath from one of the dead soldiers and strapped in on his left side.

Hyde looked at Lucia and Tadaaki that were standing there with their normal clothes on.

"If I didn't know that you guys were on my side, I would have killed you 3 already." Tadaaki said as he looked at the dried blood on the uniforms and the split cloth on Hyde's armor, showing the dull metal plates.

Norman and Hitoshi started laughing and Hyde grinned. Looks like this plan was a go.

"Alright. Tadaaki and Lucia, act like you are captives. We head to the woods and we find some soldiers patrolling. Then, we surprise attack them. Hitoshi, do you know some Garlan?" Hyde asked Hitoshi.

"Yeah. Our dad taught it to us when we were young. I can hold up a conversation." Hitoshi nodded.

Hyde nodded and asked Lucia and Tadaaki the same question. They both replied yes and Norman obviously didn't know any.

"You guys do all the talking when we get to Adrianople. The guy that took Lidia was a general probably so he should be going back home to Adrianople which isn't too far from here. Alright, lets go." Hyde said as Hitoshi led the way through the dusty abandoned library.

**The woods of Ennersville**

Even though Hyde had fought in armor like this, it was heavy. The soldiers that they had killed must have been elite guards or else they wouldn't be carrying all this armor with them. Hitoshi was leading them through the woods when they heard a noise and everyone ducked down. The noise echoed through the trees and it was starting to get dark. Hitoshi peeked from behind a tree and he quickly looked back.

"I see 2 Red Army soldiers. They are carrying shovels and seem to be digging some kind of pit. Should we proceed with the plan?" he whispered to Hyde.

Hyde nodded and everyone got into formation. Norman, Hitoshi and Hyde would stand behind Lucia and Tadaaki who would be pretending to be captured. They came from behind the tree and Hitoshi was holding his weapon out and Norman also carried a sword with him. Hyde noticed that one of the soldiers had multiple arrows strapped to his back. Lucky day. Hitoshi called out to the 2 soldiers.

"Captiva belsa!" he shouted at the 2 soldiers that were digging.

One of them looked up and shouted something back. Hitoshi turned a little bit to Hyde too relay what he said.

"He says to bring them here." Hitoshi said quietly.

Hyde nodded and the group proceeded to the soldiers. One of the soldiers kept digging while the other talked to Hitoshi about the captives. Hyde noticed that the soldier that was digging had an autobow attached to his waist. He was also shoveling dirt into a pit and only a small speck of a black boot stuck out. A dead comrade.

"Captivas eru depalas?" the soldier asked Hitoshi.

"Adrianople. Cyrus batsy kiruno Tate." Hitoshi said to the soldier.

The soldier laughed and said something to the other soldier that was digging. The soldier put down the shovel and took out the autobow and fed in the arrows.

"Honoras bia?" asked the soldier with the autobow as he handed it to Hitoshi.

"He wants me to do the honors of executing the captives." Hitoshi whispered to Hyde and Norman.

"Hand the autobow to me and then you and Norman attack the other soldier that was talking to Hitoshi. Ill take the one next to the grave." Hyde said as Hitoshi gave him the autobow.

"Viras mana-"

The soldier next to the grave took an arrow to the heart and let out a gasp as he fell into the grave he was just digging. The other soldier froze in terror as Hitoshi cut him down with his 2 swords. Lucia and Tadaaki laughed as they grabbed the uniforms and put them on. Hyde and Norman grabbed the 2 dead soldiers and put them in the grave.

"Make that 2 more." Hyde said darkly as he filled in the grave.

Lucia and Tadaaki dressed quickly because they knew how short time was. Hyde looked over their dress and kept the autobow for himself.

"Lets save Lidia." Hyde said while everyone grinned and nodded.

**Adrianople, the dungeons of the fortress**

"Batsy cira!"

Lidia grunted angrily as the soldier pushed her so she would walk faster. Her tattered cloak was filthy from being hosed down with sewer water. She smelled awful and her hair was a mess and the 2 black army soldiers behind her continued to push her. The dungeons were surprisingly clean with several concrete cells filled with prisoners. But the light situation was bad with only a few torches to light the place up. However, the concrete cells didn't have doors. The bars went directly to the ground. She was suddenly pushed in a new direction, left. The cells that came into view were full iron and didn't have bars. But they did have doors. One of the soldiers opened the doors and pushed Lidia in. The cell was made up of a small cot, a hole in the ground for a toilet and a small stream of water running from the wall into the cell. There was no light in the cell besides the small iron bar window that looked out on the city of Adrianople. Lidia felt like crying and the cell door was shut.

"Oh Hyde, what will I do now?" Lidia asked herself sadly.

**The gates of Adrianople**

The group of 5 Red Army soldiers with blood splattered all over their uniforms came into the view of the gates and General Crack, General Tate and First Consul Natasha De Grace stood on top of the gates watching. The group was stopped by a few Black Army soldiers that asked for credentials and they soon let the group through. Crack was the first to speak.

"Those aren't Red Army soldiers. I have never seen a patrol of 10 get cut down by half. I say we kill them." Crack said as he watched the group walk closer.

Tate shook her head. Sometimes her brother was so stupid.

"Haven't you read your history books? The Black Army was completely wiped out 150 years ago at Yagtrile." Tate said to Crack, annoyed with his short sightedness.

Crack rolled his eyes and shot back with his own response.

"That was against a dark guild master, Noland Winston of Yawning Tree. Of course warriors with almost no defense against magic would fall so easily." Crack said dryly as Natasha watched the group.

"Let them into the city." Natasha said as she looked at the group with amusement.

Crack almost fell off the walls. Let these obvious disguised soldiers in?

"That is the worst idea I have ever heard of!" Crack shouted angrily.

Natasha hit Crack on the head with her wooden cane.

"I am first consul Crack. My word can only be reversed by my son himself or my husband. Now obey my orders!" Natasha said, glaring angrily at Crack.

Crack looked like he was about to throw the old woman off the walls but bowed.

**Hyde's group**

The group stood in front of the huge wooden gates of the fortress. The gates were painted dark red and they had several soldiers standing in front of the high stone walls and several huge rivets were driven into the gates to strengthen them.

"Ever feel like someone has you in their sights?" Norman asked suddenly.

Everyone silently agreed. It was a bit weird. The gates would usually open within clearance of credentials but for some reason the gates were not opening.

"Think we are caught?" Hitoshi asked as he shivered from the air's chilling bite.

Sweat went down Hyde's back. Could it be over already? Suddenly the huge gates shifted and opened up. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as they walked through the huge gates and entered the fortress. Soldiers sat around barrels filled with fires and they stood near the walls talking to each other. The huge mansions of the generals lit up the background of the city and Hyde couldn't help but dream.

"I see the fortress. Another set of gates huh?" Lucia said as they walked through the stone streets past some tents and barracks.

The group came to the huge gates and the gates opened quickly this time and they entered the grand fortress of Adrianople.

**The dungeon**

Lidia was in a fierce argument with one of the soldiers that guarded her cell. Sadly, it was enjoyable fighting with him.

"General Ortega has plans for you. He doesn't have a wife so hes thinking about forcing you to marry him!" the guard shouted into the cell.

"Ha! Let him try! I will tear out his throat before he even says 'I do!'" Lidia shouted back.

"Lets see what you can say when he gets here! Hes not going to be hap-"

There was a sudden gurgling noise and then a thud. Lidia was confused and tried to see what was going on. Suddenly the door to the cell was opened and a man wearing all black and of medium height walked in. There was a rectangular metal sheath attached to his forearm and he had a single red glowing eye.

"I assume that you want to leave here?" he asked.

Lidia trembled in awe. Who was this person?

"Y-yes. What is your n-name?" Lidia asked nervously.

"Wulf. Now hurry, we wont have much time before-"

**Ringringringringringring!**

The alarms blared and Wulf roughly grabbed Lidia's arm and led her out of the cell. Lidia noticed that the guard had been strangled and she wondered what sort of adventure she was going on now.

**The room of Otto and Bartholomew**

Several burnt biscuits lay in the corner of the room. Otto scratched his head in frustration and looked back down at Balviron. Was he doing something wrong? All he could was make a short spark of electricity…

**Ringringringringring!**

Suddenly Bartholomew burst into the room, his face red.

"Otto! Prisoners have escaped! Lets go lets go lets go!" shouted Bartholomew as he waved his hands wildly in the air.

Otto didn't even look up from the book.

"Why. The soldiers will just take care of them anyways. No fun killing people who are not armed." Otto mumbled as he turned a page in the book.

"If we let a few get away, we can use Crack's invention!" Bartholomew added slyly.

Otto looked up. Crack's invention DID look really fun… Otto put the book aside and grabbed his sword and put on his chest plate armor.

"Sounds good to me!" Otto shouted as the 2 brothers ran out of the room and down the steps.

They ran into one of the huge stone corridors lit by magical lights. A group of five Red Army soldiers that looked like they had just been in a battle were coming down the corridor and Otto shouted to them.

"You soldiers! Come with us! We have to get these prisoners under control!" Otto shouted at them.

**Hyde**

Everyone in the group froze and looked at the man who was shouting at them to join him and his blonde haired companion. Suddenly Hyde remembered the time in the woods…the blonde!

"Should we join them?" Tadaaki whispered.

"Yeah. Lidia is probably among the escaped prisoners. These guys will probably lead us to her." Hyde said as he saluted and ran forward to join Otto and Bartholomew.

Things were getting REALLY complicated.

**Wow, took longer than I thought. Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter! I also have a new story out if you guys want to read that as well! Thanks! FF**


	9. Finding a Way

**Well, this is old news by now but…they cancelled the Icemark movie. WAT. It was supposed to come out in 2008 but its 2011, nearing 2012 and there is no cast STILL. This frustrates me. On the other hand, we have the new Fairy Tail. Very good chapter with Raven Tail making their first appearance since…a long time. **

**And if you haven't read the Icemark Chronicles, I suggest you do because it is SUCH a good series and that is where I got my inspiration to write in the first place. So, I will wait a few more years and hope that the movie gets made. And also hope that the film company wont completely mess it up. One can only dream.**

**So with that out of the way, Fairy Tail seems to be improving. I just hope we can hurry up into the Grand Magic Fight Battle already though. I found Raven Tail to be very, exciting. Especially the huge penguin looking guy. I hope hes strong. Anyways, I have decided to split this story into 2. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

**Adrianople**

"Out of the way! Soldiers! Locate where the prisoners have escaped!" Otto shouted as he pushed past hordes of white armored soldiers scrambling for their armor.

Hyde and the rest followed behind and the dozens of alarm bells ringing at once was starting to hurt his ears. Otto and Bartholomew where leading them towards the gates of the city and the gates had been opened for some reason. Bartholomew pointed up to the gates.

"You there! Who told you to open the gates!" Bartholomew shouted up at the soldiers on the gates.

Instead of answering, the soldiers toppled off the gates and plummeted to the ground. Bartholomew dodged a body and he shouted in frustration.

"We cant do it Otto! If they opened the gates already then they are too far ahead!" he shouted as he smashed his fist against the stone walls.

"No. We can still get them. They just ran straight to the woods…look." Otto said as he pointed to dark splotches on the ground.

Everyone crowded around the dark splotches and everyone saw that it was blood.

"This isn't good…" Lucia said to Hyde and the others.

"Yeah, whoever started bleeding, I can bet you it was Lidia." Hyde said as he looked at the blood, worry filling his eyes.

Otto and Bartholomew went to the sides of gates and they grabbed the metal handles that were hidden in the side of the huge stone walls and pulled it back to reveal the strange metal contraption. Otto shouted at the soldiers.

"Follow the trail of blood. If you catch the prisoners, execute them." Otto said as Bartholomew grabbed a canister that was painted red and labeled "Propane".

Hyde and the others nodded and ran into the forest, following the trail of blood. It was dark out but the sun was starting to rise once again. In the faint light, Hitoshi pointed to a splotch of red that splattered a tree.

"There! They must have gone this way!" shouted Hitoshi as the group ran in the direction of the blood.

The leaves crunched under their boots and the branches snapped against their armor. The pale sunlight was starting to filter through the numerous trees. Hyde looked through the forest and spotted a red handprint on a tree. He pointed and everyone went running through. However, something wasn't right. As they went on, the splotches of red increased and grew larger and larger. Eventually they came to steep hillside, exhausted from running so much. Norman was scanning the trees when he pointed at something.

"I saw something move! It was black!" he shouted at everyone.

Everyone looked towards where Norman had pointed. Sure enough, a black splotch seemed to move through the trees. A flash of brown also appeared. Lidia's cloak! Hyde undid the strap on his helmet and threw it away.

"Take off the helmets! Lidia wont be able to recognize us!" Hyde shouted as everyone started to throw their helmets away.

Everyone started to chase after the black splotches and they ran down the hill, shouting Lidia's name. The black splotch that was moving with the brown splotch turned and looked like it was aiming something at them. Suddenly it stopped.

"Lidia! Its us!" everyone shouted as they waved their hands into the air.

Wulf narrowed his eyes as he saw the 5 Red Army soldiers come down the hill. Lidia was bleeding badly in the arm and she was starting to go pale. She was standing with him and some warm seemed to return to her eyes when she saw the 5 soldiers run down the hill, missing their helmets, armor full of tears and breaks.

"Hitoshi! Hyde! Lucia! Tadaaki! Norman! Its me!" she shouted weakly to the group.

Tadaaki and Hitoshi nearly dove straight into Lidia when they got close enough. They went down into a pile of leaves and they all started laughing. Hyde came up to Wulf, wary of who he was.

"I, just wanted to thank you for helping Lidia. What is your name?" Hyde asked, not knowing anything about the man he was addressing.

"Inner Circle never abandons a person in need. My name is Wulf." Wulf said coolly.

Tadaaki and Hitoshi were helping Lidia up and everyone was feeling great. Lucia and Norman laughed along with Tadaaki and Hitoshi and Hyde couldn't help but feel that everything had gone perfectly. Wulf seemed to be satisfied, not saying anything but almost half smiling.

**Otto and Bartholomew**

It had taken a while to get the ram-hood on but it was finally ready. Bartholomew threw the canister of propane away and got into the driver's seat. Otto climbed into the passenger seat. They loaded the back with Black Army soldiers. Bartholomew grinned and almost shuddered as he turned the key and the contraption rumbled into life.

"Alright lets go!" Bartholomew shouted as they blasted through the woods, the heavy iron ram-hood blasting through things like they were wet paper.

They followed the trail of blood and pretty much crushed everything that got in the way.

"What was this thing called again?" Bartholomew asked as he steered the iron behemoth through the woods, knocking down trees.

Otto had kept quiet the whole ride. He was thinking about magic and the prisoners who escaped. The Black Army soldiers in the back all carried autobows loaded with full ammo and were ready to fire in a moments notice. Otto snapped into the real world as Bartholomew gunned the engine and crashed through a huge oak tree.

"Huh? Oh, I think Crack called it a, Carrus. I think we should just call it a car for short." Otto said as he looked through the woods.

"Sounds good to me." Bartholomew agreed as he wheeled the car through several saplings and came to a steep hill. "Hey, isn't that…"

Otto and Bartholomew looked down the hill to see some Red Army soldiers talking to some people. Were those the prisoners? Suddenly Bartholomew caught a glimpse of Hyde's face. His face became red with anger.

"That's the wanted man! Fire on him!" shouted Bartholomew to the soldiers in the back.

Otto was looking at someone else. Lidia.

"Kill everyone besides the girl! Bring her to me!" shouted Otto as the soldiers aimed their autobows.

**Hyde**

Everything was going fine until a hail of arrows blasted through several trees and sent everyone diving for cover. The arrows kept coming, now pauses in between.

"Autobows! I think they know we are the enemy!" Hyde shouted to Hitoshi who had dived to cover next to him.

Another hail of arrows smashed through several trees and Norman looked at Hyde with a look on his face that asked "Fight or run?".

Hyde was making a plan. Lidia was injured. Hyde didn't really know the area all that well. Odds of survival were probably 1 to 3. It was unnatural how fast they had come to the scene as well, where they using the strange machine? Then the odds got even worse.

"Hitoshi, do you know this area at all?" Hyde asked him as the hail of arrows swept through the area they were taking cover in.

Hitoshi shook his head and an arrow smashed through the tree they were hiding behind. Tadaaki pointed behind him and that caught Hyde's attention. There was a hillside leading UP. Norman formed a "v" shape with his hands and pointed up to where the car was. It took a while for Hyde to understand but it finally came to Hyde's attention. The ram-hood would get the car stuck in the space where the hillside transitioned up!

"Hyde! We have to go now!" Lucia shouted as Paul came forth from the amulet she was holding and blocked arrows.

A blast of light flashed from behind one of the trees and Tadaaki nodded his head. Hyde looked over at Wulf who was protecting Lidia.

"Alright! Wulf! Pass Lidia to me!" Hyde shouted to him.

"Lidia cant move right now! You have to come here!" Wulf shouted to him.

Hyde just groaned and gave the autobow to Hitoshi. He held it awkwardly in his hand and Hyde explained how to use it.

"Point, pull down trigger. Watch target die." Hyde said as Hitoshi nodded.

With Hitoshi guarding his back, Hyde dashed from his hiding space and felt an arrow thud into his armor. Pain blasted through his chest but he dove to where Wulf and Lidia were taking cover. Hyde took Lidia onto his back and he made a motion for everyone to run up the hill.

"Run! Make a run for it!" Hyde screamed as he ran up the hill, Lidia on his back.

Hitoshi and Tadaaki covered the retreat and Paul stayed with them, holding the huge shield over their bodies as they shot arrows and blasted light towards the car that sat on top of the hill. The group ran over the hill and thank god there was a city on the other side! It was a bit far away but they were just going to have run it!

"City! Ahead! Just ru-"

Hyde tripped and he fell into a pile of leaves. He was about to push himself out when his hands fell onto something leathery. His hand grabbed it without Hyde consciously noticing and he pulled himself out of the pile and continued running down the hill.

**Otto and Bartholomew**

"Start the car!" Otto shouted at Bartholomew.

"Alright! Make sure you get those guys that keep shooting arrows at me and shooting bolts of light!" Bartholomew shouted as the car started and they lurched down the hill at top speed.

As they went down, Otto stood up from his seat, feeling the wind blow through his hair and he held out his hand towards Hitoshi and Tadaaki that were slowly advancing up the hill under the protection of Paul.

'Come on! I can do this!' Otto thought as he concentrated on his hand and his targets.

"Otto! Concentrate!" Bartholomew shouted as they neared the transition between uphill and downhill.

"Shut up!" Otto snarled as he shoved his hand forward.

The effect was immediate. Black lightning shot from Otto's hand and immediately set several trees on fire. The electricity lasted blasted the ground near Hitoshi and Tadaaki. Otto laughed triumphantly as he stared down at his hand.

"I did it! I did it!" he laughed triumphantly.

"Oh shit!"

The car wedged itself in the transition and Otto went flying from the front seat. He did a front flip over the car and smashed into a tree stump. The soldiers all piled out and went to help Otto get up. Bartholomew had smacked his head into the metal dashboard on impact and blood went down his forehead as his brother was dragged into the back of the car and a soldier placed a cloth over Otto's unmoving body. Bartholomew felt the blood trickle down his face and a soldier wrapped a bandage over his eyes. Everything went black.

**Dasmacus**

"…everyone alright?"

"Yeah but Hitoshi said that some fire got on his body."

"Im fine you idiot."

"Anyone have any saltwater?"

"Thanks for letting us stay at your house."

"Anytime youngsters."

"Hey, wheres Wulf?"

"I don't know…he sort of disappeared during the escape…"

"Damn. I still had a question to ask him. Whats Inner Circle though?"

A long silence after that. Suddenly Tadaaki's voice cut through.

"Hey, what do you have in your hand Hyde?"

"Uh? Huh? Where did this come from?"

Lidia couldn't see anything but she could hear fine. She slowly opened her eyes to see that her vision was indeed intact but she couldn't really move anywhere.

"Lidia! Your awake!" said Hyde as he looked over at her.

"Y-yes. But, what did you find?" Lidia asked weakly.

Hyde showed her. It seemed to be some sort of map. A silver light was blinking in Dasmacus and a golden light was blinking in…Delray? Everyone crowded around the map.

"Why is there a golden light blinking over Delray?" everyone asked.

**And there you go! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! FF**


	10. The Map

**If anyone hasn't checked my profile yet, I have made a schedule for updating my stories. Now that I have actually, 5 stories that I REALLY need to get a move on with (Zombie Regime and Hunter Pride Marching Band) I need to organize my updates. I realize that a lot of my readers for the stories mentioned above have not received a chapter in over 2 weeks. So, I will be updating them. Sunday is considered a makeup day for anything I missed over the week because I was too busy and etc. **

**And here is some extra news: I am looking for a Beta. Yes, someone who gets early access to my stories (which doesn't sound that exciting) and looks for grammatical, plot or spelling errors. If you know anyone or are willing yourself, please PM me. **

**Also, Circle of War will be ending soon. With the story split into 2 parts, I believe that it is time to be wrapping this story up. So, look for the ending of this story! Enjoy the chapter.**

**The Throne Room**

Cyrus sat on the throne, looking at the 4 people who knelt before him. One of them was General Ortega, an ambitious general who nobody trusted. The other 2 were Crack and Tate, members of his family. The other was Livia, his daughter. The recent events had led Cyrus to think hard about the future. The middle piece, gone. His sons, near death. The prisoner riot had proven some cracks existed within the Garlan Empire and that was not something Cyrus allowed. EVER.

He sat on the throne now, evaluating each person's ability to lead. Cyrus was not stepping down from the throne. No, he could never do that. He was merely passing a part of leadership to one of the 4 who knelt before him. The title that was given was "Commondorus Supremus" or "Supreme Commander". They would wield nearly unlimited power among the armed forces besides the king himself and would lead the armies in battle. Cyrus eyed Ortega who seemed to be shifting uneasily.

Cyrus allowed a silent snicker within him. Ortega was a man of great influence. He was the 3rd consul and was a skilled general. However, Cyrus had suspicions that Ortega was plotting against him. Giving him nearly unlimited control of the army would be a high risk, one that would not be in Cyrus's favor.

"Ortega, dismissed." Cyrus said calmly.

Ortega stood, knowing that he had been eliminated from the pool of possible chosen ones. He left the throne room quickly, his green cape flowing behind him and his silvery armor flashing in the torchlight. Cyrus shifted his gaze to Crack.

Cyrus did not know Crack very well. He was a general and head scientist. However, his dry and sarcastic attitude displeased Cyrus and he knew of Crack's interactions with his grandmother.

"Crack, dismissed." Cyrus said smoothly.

Crack seemed to sigh with relief and he stood and bowed.

"Of course your royal majesty." He said sarcastically as he turned and walked away, his white lab coat swishing.

'Down to 2 already. Did my great grandfather have this easy of a choice?' Cyrus thought, thinking of Darius and the man he had appointed the Supreme Commander.

Cyrus only had 2 to choose from. Tate and his own daughter. Originally, his son Otto had been the unofficial Supreme Commander. However this would be the real deal. Tate was a good choice, a very good choice. She was level headed and thought straight unlike Crack. She was an incredible marksman and had led troops to victory time and time again. Also, she was the warden of nearly every prison in the empire. She was not cruel, kind hearted but knew how to enforce discipline. His daughter on the other hand…

Livia was a strange child. She did not show the likings of war and Cyrus worried that he had sheltered her too much. Perhaps it was time to show her the true world. One of darkness and destruction… Cyrus considered letting the King's Guard accompany her and made his choice. He stood from the throne and he went behind the golden throne to press a button in the stone wall behind the throne. A compartment opened up and there stood 2 weapons. They looked identical and were the ceremonial weapons that the Supreme Commander carried at all times. One was a curved scimitar with a handle made of emeralds and the blade was a dull grey color. The other was a spear. It had a large blade in the shape of a crescent moon and it was wickedly sharp and killed the strongest warriors in the past. The handle was made of solid oak with several rivets driven into the brown wood to reinforce it.

Cyrus came from behind the throne with the weapons and spoke.

"Tate, Livia stand. I am bestowing a rare honor to you. You will SHARE the powers of the Supreme Commander."Cyrus said as Tate and Livia stood and looked surprised.

Cyrus handed the sword to Livia and the spear to Tate. He had a plan, a very good plan. Recently the only son that could stay conscious long enough, Bartholomew, had told him of a book that could do things. He would have to investigate after the ceremony was done…

"Livia, lead your soldiers and the King's Guard to find the vagrant named Hyde. You will have everything you need. As a child of the royal family, you have a duty to the empire! Do not fail me!" Cyrus said as Livia trembled and bowed.

Cyrus reached into his royal cloak to hand another device to Livia. It was a chaser, the exact replica of the one Bartholomew used to hunt down targets. Livia's hands shook as she took it and attached it to her arm. Cyrus nodded and turned to Tate.

"You will remain in the capitol and guard this city. As a member of the armed forces, you have a duty to the city and the royal family. Do not fail us!" Cyrus said as Tate bowed.

Tate and Livia turned and walked out of the throne room, side by side. One felt happy about the promotion. The other felt dread.

**Dasmacus**

Lidia took the map in her hands and inspected it. Her fierce eyes passed over the map and examined every single town on the map. She still couldn't understand what the glowing light on Delray meant.

"Glowing light…Delray…" she said as she tapped Delray of the map.

Lucia was thinking with Hitoshi and Tadaaki. This was something that must lead to a clue… Hyde gave out some information about Delray.

"Well, all I know about that town is that it is considered the sacred ground of Goliath. The deputy commander's family lived there and I think that is where he is buried now. There is also a huge meteor in the center of the town…" Hyde said to everyone.

Norman had joined the group thinking circle and everyone was sending out ideas.

"Something to do with gold?"

"Nah. Must be something else."

"Who would even make a map of this place when there are so many?"

"This is getting confusing."

Lidia kept examining the map. This was their 3rd day in Dasmacus and they still had not figured out what the map pointed to. Lidia had recovered from the wound and she was feeling a lot better. Suddenly an image flashed in her head. It had been when Gastinfer had showed them that ancient recording… The huge man, bent over the forge…pulling out the silver circle. Wait, wasn't there a center piece? There was! And it was made of gold!

Lidia bolted straight up from the bed she was laying down in. Everyone looked at her in surprise.

"Whats up Lidia? You sure you are supposed to be moving that fast?" Tadaaki asked worriedly.

Lidia ignored him and showed everyone the map. Delray was glowing golden still.

"That, is where the middle piece is located! This map shows us the positions of the pieces!" Lidia shouted excitedly.

"What?" everyone shouted as they all stared at the map.

Hyde took the map and looked at it. He looked up at Lidia who was smiling triumphantly.

"Are you sure that this is what the map is pointing to?" Hyde asked, excitement rising in everyone's veins.

Lidia nodded. She was dead sure.

"I guarantee it." She said with full confidence.

Lucia and Tadaaki nodded.

"Then lets head to Delray." They both said in unison.

**The hospital in the fortress**

"…."

Bartholomew sat in the bed next to his brother, a bandage covering his eyes. Not much could be said about what Bartholomew felt right now. He felt empty. This was his 3rd day of inactivity. Otto faired even worse. The doctors had predicted that there was a 70% chance he would die of his injuries. Apparently, many bones were broken. His brother was most likely still not moving in the bed beside him. Suddenly he heard the door to the hospital room open and he looked towards the sound.

"Son, how are you." He heard Cyrus's voice say.

"Good. I think im ready to take the bandages off. How does Otto look?" Bartholomew asked weakly.

"Color is returning to his face. He seems to be twitching." Cyrus answered.

Bartholomew nodded. Suddenly something heavy was put on his legs. It was cold like iron.

"I found this in your room. What is it? A spell book?" Cyrus suddenly asked.

Bartholomew reached out to touch it and he moved his hands across the worn iron letters. Felt like it.

"Balviron. Otto was practicing magic with that. I don't really know what it does though." He said as he leaned back into his bed.

There was a sound like pages being turned. Cyrus let out a breath.

"Incredible…" Cyrus breathed out.

Bartholomew was itching to see what his father had found. Sadly he couldn't see anything.

"What is it?" he asked, wanting to know.

"A map. This book, it must be only 300 years old but it records activity to thousands of years ago…I believe, that our luck is changing. Hopefully, you will recover soon and Otto as well." Cyrus said as he stood from the bed.

"Good bye father." Bartholomew said as the hospital room door closed.

Suddenly Otto sputtered from besides Bartholomew's bed, blood splattering on the white sheets of the bed.

"AHHHH!" Otto growled in frustration.

**Livia**

Livia had always dreaded this day. The day that her brothers did something stupid and get Livia promoted to some rank in which she was expected to kill and enforce discipline. She wore the heavy armor of the Supreme Commander, surrounded on all sides by men wearing grooved black armor and golden helmets that looked like a diver's helmet. They each held a pike made of solid gold and they carried 3 pistols and an autobow along with a broadsword. They were the King's Guard, the force that Cyrus himself handpicked to guard him day and night.

They stood waiting orders from her along with the entire Black Army. Livia wove her hand through her long curly brown hair. Suddenly a messenger came running, a piece of paper flying from his hands. He adjusted his helmet and bowed to Livia as he handed the paper to her.

It was a note from her father. It was a military plan which involved surrounding Delray completely with the Black Army and sweeping all the wreckage. Livia folded the note and the messenger ran to his post. Looks like it was time for her to move out…

"Soldiers! Move to Delray! Surround the city and let no one enter alive!" she shouted fiercely as she drew the sword of the Supreme Commander and all the soldiers let out a shout of approval.

**Hope you guys liked that chapter! Don't forget to check the schedule on my profile! Thanks! FF**


	11. Sulla Evadeus

**Once again, I prove myself unable to stay on schedule. Im sorry to anyone that actually expected me to stick to the schedule right after I made it. Its because this week is so irregular. Anyways, the new Sun Thief is out, Chapter 2.**

**That was actually a surprise for me too because I didn't realize that I would have enough time to actually write a 2000+ word document with the time left over after homework was done. Now that we have this story coming to an end soon, I have some interesting things planned. With that out of the way, lets get on with it.**

**Delray**

"Clear away all the trees! Move all the rubble and search that house!"

The shouts rang out in the ghost town that was Delray. Not really a ghost town, it w as more like a single house in a huge field of destroyed houses and a huge meteorite sitting in the middle of the city. 3 graves sat to the right of the house and Liva had ordered that the graves remain untouched. The soldiers were busy clearing away the rubble and so far, they had found nothing but old bones. Nobody had lived in the town for over a hundred years and many considered it to be cursed. Nothing grew there. Livia was standing next to the meteorite, thinking about how unlucky she was to be assigned this promotion. Why was she being forced to do this? The soldiers patrolled every road and forest surrounding the city and it put Livia on edge. She had never liked fighting but now she was being forced to do it.

"I see you don't like the title."

Livia almost jumped in surprise. She whipped around, drawing her sword, pointing it at nothing. Suddenly a ghostly form started to take form. It was a man wearing dark brown robes and carrying the exact same sword Livia was holding. He had thin blonde hair, a thin wine marked face, and deep blue eyes. He looked young but ancient at the same time. Was he, a ghost?

"A-are you actually here?" Livia asked, carefully.

The man seemed to ignore her question and scratched his neck. He seemed bored.

"So, you don't like the title I used to carry?" the man asked as he suddenly sat down on nothing.

Livia grew red in the face. He was ignoring her!

"Why yes, I hate this accursed title! I never wanted to be Commondorus Supremus!" she said, glaring at the blonde haired man.

The man seemed to laugh.

"Good, I didn't like it either." The man said as he stood and wrapped himself in his robes.

Livia's eyes narrowed. In her mind, there was only one person who had held the title before her. It was Darius's uncle or something. Sulla?

"Your Sulla Evadeus!" she said, certain she was right.

He nodded and put his hand on Livia's shoulder. The hand felt real but it was actually transparent.

"You and I might not have liked the title, but I did my duty and so will you." He said sagely as he started to disappear.

Livia tried to grab hold of him as he disappeared but got nowhere. She still wanted to learn why he had come to her!

"Wait! Why did you come to see me!" she shouted to the disappearing man.

"Think for the moment dear. You are in a very difficult position…" the man whispered as he completely disappeared.

Livia was left looking completely bewildered.

**On the road to Delray**

The group advanced quickly on the dirt roads that led to Delray. They could not afford to miss a second. Otto and Bartholomew might already be there, searching for the middle piece. Everyone in the group had seen what the completed circle could do, they needed to stop it. Everyone was running and suddenly they came to an old wooden sign driven into the side of the road. It was starting to fall apart but the words were still readable. It said "Delray, 2 days march". Tadaaki looked at the sign and looked a bit ahead.

"Looks like Delray isn't too far from here." He said as he looked up the path.

Everyone nodded. They couldn't stop now.

"What happens if Cyrus gets the middle piece? We still have the lower piece right?" Hitoshi asked.

"That's true. But it Cyrus got the middle piece, he would only have to find the upper piece and then US to complete it." Lucia said as she pulled out Paul's amulet.

Lidia nodded. Everyone understood how urgent this was.

"And if Cyrus gets all the pieces, then he will rule with absolute authority. We cant let that happen." Lidia said as everyone continued up the path.

As Hyde walked up the path with his friends, he couldn't help wonder.

'The piece had appeared whole in the recording, but what made it break into pieces?'

**Hospital**

"Removing the bandages."

Bartholomew felt relief as vision flooded into his eyes. He could see! He looked over at his brother to see him half grinning in his bed. Over the past few days, Otto had improved significantly. He was still not completely well but he could move and speak. The doctors left and Otto turned to Bartholomew.

"Book, use the book." He whispered to Bartholomew suddenly.

Bartholomew instantly knew what book he was speaking of. Balviron. But what to do with it?

"What do you want the book for?" Bartholomew asked as he took the book from where it lay on the nightstand next to Bartholomew's bed.

"100, turn to page 100…" Otto said weakly.

Bartholomew took the iron book in his hands and he opened it to page 100. It was on a subject known as "Bio-Reconstruction". Bartholomew read the words, realizing what Otto wanted him to do. He shut the book and looked up at Otto, shocked.

"I cant do this Otto! Doing something like this! I don't even have power!" Bartholomew said to him as he moved to put away the book.

Otto smiled slyly.

"Oh but you do Bartholomew. You are even stronger than I am. Bring me the bones of bears and use the magic in that book to heal me so that we can chase after those vagrants that did this to me and you!" Otto cackled.

Bartholomew stopped and he opened the book once again. Bio-Reconstruction… Bartholomew slid out of his bed and opened the hospital room door and spoke to the guard outside. The guard saluted and ran off to do whatever Bartholomew had told him to do. He also wanted revenge. He was going to tear that man and woman to the ground! Hyde and Lidia! No Mercy!

**Woods near Delray**

2 days march. That was how long it had taken the group to reach the woods even remotely close to Delray. It was dark out too. The patrols of soldiers got even thicker as they went on. This was the 3rd time they had to dive into the woods and there were still even more soldiers in the woods. Lucia and Tadaaki were moving slowly, army crawling to the big oak tree so they could see if any soldiers were coming. Hyde was exhausted, having been walking/running for 2 full days. Everyone was. But this was the price of saving others. Lucia made a motion that looked like someone walking. Soldiers incoming! Then she made a wide motion with her arms. A lot of soldiers! Tadaaki turned and made a motion that looked to translate as "Get down now or everyone will see you!".

"Get down! Lots of soldiers in coming!" Norman whispered urgently to everyone as they tried to bury themselves in the dead leaves littering the ground.

Lucia and Tadaaki did the same. They were just in time. The very moment Tadaaki had finished placing the last leaf over his body, the first Black Army soldier came into view. Hyde felt his heart rate go way up.

"Don't sneeze, don't sneeze, don't breath." He whispered to himself as even more soldiers came into view and 2 soldiers riding horses thundered through the woods.

Lidia gave Hyde a look that seemed to say "Don't move a muscle or I swear I will kill you".

"Don't move, a muscle…" Norman whispered to everyone.

The soldiers kept coming through the forests, kicking up leaves as they walked, shouting to each other.

"Keep those lines tight gentlemen!" shouted a voice from behind the tree that Lucia and Tadaaki were hiding behind.

The soldiers seemed to be looking for something, carrying flashlights fueled by light lacrima. They scanned the floor of the forest, looking for something. Hyde almost let out a gasp as one of the beams of passed dangerously close to Hyde.

"Nothing here General Ortega!" shouted one of the soldiers as he swept the flashlight across the forest floor.

Hyde hoped they would go away now. Instead, the opposite happened. Even more soldiers came and a man who seemed to be in charge came into view. Dark skin, fancy mustache, wearing the heavy black armor of a Black Army general and had creepy looking eyes.

"Nothing? Step it up then!" the general said as the soldier saluted and continued scanning the forest floor.

Hyde felt his heart pounding. It was about to burst. Why where they not leaving! Finally the general gave a wave.

"Everyone return to the base! We search again tomorrow!" he shouted to the soldiers in the woods as they all saluted and started to walk towards the direction they had come in.

Finally, all the soldiers had gone and everyone burst from their hiding spots. Everyone was still covered in dead leaves though. Hyde was breathing really hard and he leaned against a tree to catch his breath.

"Ok, can we PLEASE hurry? I really want to get a move on." Hyde said, gasping for breath.

Everyone nodded slowly and they walked cautiously through the forest.

**Otto and Bartholomew**

The guard had brought the bear bones and Bartholomew set them inside a metal bowl. Bartholomew picked up the book and he read through some words.

"Bio-Reconstruction! Reconstruct the arm!" Bartholomew said as he read the words on the page and suddenly the bar bones in the bowel started to rattle and they disappeared.

Otto suddenly jolted upright. A slow grin crawled up his face as he swung his arm around and cracked his knuckles.

"Bartholomew, you are an excellent doctor. Now how about we go to Delray to find the middle piece for ourselves." He grinned as he jumped of bed like a new man and ran to get his armor. Bartholomew followed him, holding the book and grinning with excitement. He was a mage! Yes! Otto quickly strapped on the armor he needed and so did Bartholomew. They quickly ran past patrols of soldiers and they ran to the city gates where they had stored the car. They prepared it quickly, their excited hands working quickly.

When it was time to drive, Otto got into the driver seat.

"Im driving this time." He said as he got in and Bartholomew sat next to him.

The key was turned and the car shot from the storage area towards Delray. As Otto drove, he remembered the day he had found the map.

**A few weeks ago…**

'Lets see what I can find in this book today…' Otto thought as he turned the pages of the iron book.

Suddenly he came to page he had never seen before. It was a map, drawn by hand and it covered the entire world. A golden light glowed in the castle. Otto stared at the golden light, mesmerized about what it might mean. Perhaps a treasure? He closed the book and set it aside. Well, if there was treasure…

**Flash back end**

Otto had not known what that golden light meant until he had overheard Bartholomew and Cyrus's conversation about the expeditions while he lay, in a vegetative state. He meant to say something but his mouth simply wouldn't move at the time. Otto grinned as he drove over the dirt paths. It was his time for revenge.

'Look out Lidia, I will make sure you repay me in full…'

**Yay! There you go! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you haven't already, check out the new Sun Thief! There will be some more interesting things happening next chapter hehehehe… Anyways, please review! Thanks people! FF**


	12. Hiding within rock

**As a reward to myself for staying on schedule, I am giving you guys a new chapter of The Circle of War. This is actually the second to last chapter. Nothing much to say here so lets get on with the chapter.**

**Delray, morning**

The group crouched behind the ruined wall of an old house and observed the 2 soldiers who were standing guard near the meteorite. They were Black Army soldiers and they were smoking, the smoke trailing in the cold morning air. It hadn't really been a good night for the group. They had dodged patrols of soldiers all through the night and they barely made it to the edge of the city before everyone fell asleep, leaning on each other. There was not a single person in the group who had slept well but they stayed awake as they looked around the town.

It really was as desolate as everyone had said. A single grand house stood across from the meteorite, the house of the legendary mage Kiliman. Around the house, the massive tree trunks were blasted everywhere as if some giant child had decided to sit on the forest. Ruined houses where everywhere and tents were pitched around the meteorite. The good thing was, only 2 soldiers guarded the backside of the meteorite. The army seemed to be more interested in the very front of the city where the main gates were.

Hyde observed the soldiers carefully as they stood around the meteorite, unaware of the group watching them.

"Anyone have any ideas on how to take them out?" Hyde whispered to everyone.

Norman shifted and pointed to the autobow that lay on the ground behind them. Hyde nodded and picked it up. He had used an autobow before but he wasn't a very good shot.

"Anyone here know how to use this thing? As in shoot well?" Hyde asked as he showed the autobow to everyone.

In the clear morning light, the glossy brown wood shone and the metal loading port glinted softly. The autobow looked like a normal crossbow but there were several gears within the wooden frame that could shoot arrows at an unheard of rate, 200 arrows in a minute if the right clip was attached. This particular autobow didn't have a clip so the arrows had to be hand fed. Lidia took the autobow from Hyde's hands and she looked at it in several different angles.

"I think I can use this…" she said as she looked at it.

Hyde handed her the 2 arrows that came with the autobow. She loaded one of them in the mechanism and she aimed it at one of the soldiers.

"Hey, Tadaaki, give me a hand. I want you to take care of the soldier on the right. Im going to shoot the one on the left. Ready?" Tadaaki nodded and took careful aim.

The sun was shining brightly so the burst of light would not have any effect on the current situation.

"Go!" Lidia said as she pulled the trigger and the arrow flew towards the soldier on the left.

A burst of light blasted from Tadaaki's mouth at the same time and the soldier he was aiming for fell to the ground, the armor smoking. The arrow slammed into the chest of the soldier that Lidia had aimed for and he fell down dead, red blood flowing down his black armor. The group moved next to the meteorite and Hyde took the map from his pack and looked at it. Delray was still glowing and everyone scattered so they could look for the middle piece. Thankfully, the soldiers had retreated to the far side of the meteorite and the group could freely look inside the houses for the middle piece. Hyde passed by the 3 gravestones and tried to read them. This was the holy ground for Goliath, the Tenrou Island of Goliath, and Hyde had finally been able to visit. He didn't know the people who were buried here but one of the inscriptions read "T y Bo . A el a pan. Goliath Deputy chi f". The words were faded so Hyde couldn't even read the whole gravestone. Meanwhile, Lidia stood in front of the meteorite thinking with Norman and Tadaaki. Hitoshi, Lucia and Hyde were off looking inside the huge house.

"Where would be the best place to hide a golden artifact…" she thought, looking around the desolate town, filled with destroyed building, withering plants and knocked down trees.

"…Possibly underground?" Norman suggested.

Tadaaki shook his head. Burying something really wasn't the best thing to do.

"Im sure if someone buried the middle piece, there would be some sort of disturbance in the ground. I cant see any." Tadaaki sighed as he leaned against the meteorite.

Lidia saw him lean against the rocky surface of the huge meteor and smiled. Perfect.

"Tadaaki, you are a genius." Lidia said as she smiled and waved her hands to Hyde and the others who were coming out of the house.

They rejoined the group and Hitoshi saw the looks on their faces and asked what was going on. Lidia explained that they could have found the place where the middle piece was hidden.

"The meteorite! Think about it. It hides literally in plain sight! We see the meteorite but we don't see the middle piece!" Lidia said excitedly as everyone started nodding.

"How can we break the meteorite? I mean, we don't have any hammers." Hyde said as he looked around for something to hit the meteorite with.

Lucia pulled out the amulet for Paul. It shone brightly in the sunlight.

"Don't worry. I think Paul can help us." She said as Paul durst from the amulet and saluted.

His huge shield and his sword shone his armor was polished to sparkle. Lucia pointed to the meteorite.

"Paul, I want you to make a hole in the meteorite." She said as Paul nodded and smashed his sword into the meteorite, creating a crack to emerge in the meteorite.

**Livia**

There was a sudden scrapping noise and Livia looked up at the huge meteorite. The soldiers were standing guard near the meteorite and most of them where eating breakfast. The King's Guard stood next to her, looking at a huge map of Delray. They had created a map made of sectors that had every single detail of the city on it. Several of the sectors were crossed off. General Ortega stood among the King's Guard although he wasn't one of them himself. He pointed to the center of the meteorite.

"How about we break it open and see whats inside? It wouldn't hurt to look would it?" he asked as he stroked his dark moustache.

The King's Guard gave a chuckle. What was this man thinking? Break into the meteor? What was this madness?

"Break into the meteor? Something brought down by an instrument of evil? That can only bring misfortune on us!" they argued.

Livia could only agree with the King's Guard. Legend told of a man named Skorm who had destroyed the city of Delray in a single instant. Livia didn't believe the story but the meteorite was here wasn't it? Suddenly there was a disturbance at the gate and several soldiers went running to the gate and started saluting. Livia and everyone else looked to the main gates of the city to see the sleek sickly green colored body of the metal transport roll in to the camp. And riding in the front seats were her brothers, the very people who's idiocy had gotten her this hated position. Despite the fact that they had gotten into a horrible accident with the very vehicle they were driving in. They got out and marched straight through the crowd of King's Guard to Livia. They both gave devilish grins as they gave Livia great big hugs. They withdrew quickly and observed the map that they had just been looking.

'They must have rehearsed this.' Livia thought as they observed the map.

Otto turned around and looked at Livia. He seemed to be perfectly healthy.

"Seems like you haven't found anything. You have effectively searched this entire town and you haven't found the thing that our father is looking for. I, have a good place where you can look." Otto said as he put his finger on the middle of the meteorite.

Bartholomew took a step forward to speak. He didn't have scratch on him either.

"Get every soldier armed with a hammer. We are breaking the meteorite in half."

**So that's the chapter. I hope you guys liked it! FF**


	13. Heads Up

**And here we have the last chapter. I didn't really think that it would be this quick, getting to this point. Honestly, after learning how to actually write, I didn't even think about this site until I posted Silence Uprising as a test. Looks like I passed.**

**I really don't know where I got my passion for writing. Must have come from the fact that I cant draw and the only alternative is to write. I wanted to thank LunarBlaze and Edward the Pure for following the story through and through. **

**I actually searched Fiore on the Fairy Tail wiki and saw that it looked a lot like Spain. Just throwing that out there. Anyways, here is the last chapter!**

**Delray**

_Clatter clatter clink clank smack clink clack_

The sounds of nearly 2,000 soldiers hammering away at a huge meteorite filled the air as every soldier was handed a hammer and sent to break the meteorite into pieces. Fortunately, nobody had even come close to denting it. The meteorite seemed, impossible to break! Even the strongest man could not make a dent. Otto and Bartholomew had started to become impatient, commenting on the soldier's lack of strength and will. Livia stood next to them, looking at her brothers strangely. Why were they so intent on breaking the meteorite?

Otto and Bartholomew had not spoken to Livia about the circle. In fact, they never spoke of it near her. The circle was something to be discussed among the _men _of the family, the ones who would be ruling the empire after their father stepped down. They didn't even consider the fact that the first great monarch had been a _woman. _Finally, Otto grew tried of waiting and snatched a hammer from the hands of a soldier who was hammering away at the hard rock. Otto's cape blew in the wind as he heaved the hammer back and struck the pock marked rock.

_Clang_

Instantly, the rock started to crack and all the soldiers began to cheer. Their cheering died down as black liquid spewed from the crack that had been made from the hammer and completely covered Otto in the substance. It was thick, smelled of rotting animal and stuck to clothing like fuzz. Otto growled in anger as he tried to wipe the black liquid off of his armor.

"What is this shit! Agg!" he shouted in anger as the liquid clung stubbornly to his once shining metal armor.

Bartholomew grabbed a hammer too and started to hammer away at the rock. Another crack developed and more black liquid spewed out, covering the arrogant blonde with foul smelling liquid. He also cried out in anger and Livia covered her face in embarrassment. Several soldier were trying to scrape away at the liquid with their hands but it would not come off. Finally Otto just grunted and grabbed the hammer once again. He swung it and got more and more of the black liquid on him as the hammer smashed into the rock and more and more of its inside was visible. Bartholomew followed his brother's example and the 2 brothers were once again chipping at the rock. Livia just looked at her brothers in disgust and noted that the strange metallic scraping noise was still heard, faintly but there nonetheless.

**Hyde**

_Clang!_

The shield of Paul smashed into the thick rock and didn't even leave a scratch. Everyone was scratching their heads, confused looks on their faces as Paul struck the great shield against the meteorite once again. Hyde's hand went to his sword that was strapped to his back and he drew it, the metal flashing in the afternoon sun.

"This isn't going to work but, I don't care! We are running out of time!" Hyde shouted as he slashed his sword across the meteorite.

Everyone looked at the solid rock and sighed in disappointment. Suddenly a crack formed in the rock. And then another. And soon, it was a web of cracks. The meteorite was cracking! Suddenly the cracks stopped and Hyde gripped one of the cracking pieces and wrenched it away from the ball of solid rock. Everyone took a good look into the meteor to find that it was, mostly solid besides a small tunnel, enough for an arm to reach in going through it. The tunnel ended at a golden light shining from the dark tunnel. The middle piece! It was within reach! Hyde jammed his sword into the cracks and tore more and more of it away. Everyone looked in awe at the golden light at the end of the tunnel. It was truly there! The middle piece!

"Hyde! You can do it!" shouted everyone as sweat poured from Hyde's forehead as he tore the last flake of meteorite off of the solid rock.

Hyde nodded confidently as he jammed his arm into the small and narrow tunnel that led to the light.

'Come on! I need to get the middle piece!' Hyde thought desperately as he reached for the golden light.

**Otto and Bartholomew**

"I see some golden light down there…"

Otto and Bartholomew threw away their hammers and looked into the meteorite to see that it was completely solid besides a small and narrow tunnel that led to a golden light at the end. The space was big enough for an arm to squeeze through and Otto jammed his hand into the tunnel, not even waiting to wipe off the black liquid that clung to them. Suddenly Otto heard a voice from within the tunnel.

"Come on! You can do it Hyde!"

Otto looked to Bartholomew who was staring at his brother.

"I think someone else is in the city! They want the middle piece as well! Find them!" Otto ordered to him as Bartholomew nodded and started to run off around the meteorite.

Livia could not hear the conversation her brothers had shared but she was surprised to see that her brothers were working quite hard. Whatever was inside the meteorite, it must be valuable.

And suddenly, it had become a race. A race to see who had the most will to get the middle piece. A race to prevent the destruction of the world or to speed it up. 2 sides were fighting for this cause. The Garlan Royal family and the vagrant group of Hyde and Lidia. This was a strange outcome for the Garlan Empire had always clashed with revolutionaries, but never vagrants who directly challenged royal authority. One of the was a wanted man, this made the entire group outlaws for sheltering and travelling with him.

**Hyde**

Hyde gasped as he heard a voice come through the tunnel. It had something to do with them! He turned to face Lidia as he kept trying to reach the middle piece.

"Lidia! Someone is looking for us! Take care of him!" Hyde said urgently.

Tadaaki and Hitoshi took a step forward. They looked determined to help with the fight.

"Just tell us what to do Hyde!" they said together.

Hyde shook his head and sweat went down his forehead.

"No, too many people. Just Lidia!" Hyde said as he strained to get his arm through the tunnel.

Lidia nodded and took a step back and raised her autobow. The next thing that happened, was destiny. As Lidia raised her autobow, the metal lock that held the arrow in place, broke and the last arrow she had went flying over the meteorite. There was a pause and then a scream.

"I- I think I hit something!" she shouted to Hyde and the others.

Hyde nodded and continued working against the meteorite. He didn't know how far the enemy was to getting the middle piece but he wasn't going to allow them to have it!

**Otto and Bartholomew**

_Thunk!_

That noise was followed with a scream. Otto hardly heard the noise as Bartholomew barely dragged himself to where the soldiers lifted him up and dragged him farther into the camp.

"My eye! My god damn eye! Aggghhh!" Bartholomew screamed as he was put down at Livia's feet.

Livia almost threw up from how much blood was pouring from her brother's eye. The blood travelled from the socket, that had an arrow sticking from it, and stained everything. Thankfully, the helmet Bartholomew had worn before the strike had slowed the arrow enough that it only penetrated the eye and not the brain. Livia shook herself and issued orders.

"Get a medical kit here now! I need 3 doctors here now as well! Move faster! I will not lose my brother!" Livia ordered to soldiers as the entire camp was thrown into chaos as people ran from place to place holding gauze and dragging doctors from their tents.

Bartholomew continued to scream and Livia had to take the pleasure of taking the arrow out of the eye. She closed her eyes, tore the arrow from the eye, took a punch to her face and then quickly wrapped her brother's eye with gauze that a soldier had delivered to her. The whole ordeal was over within seconds. Bartholomew's cries had silenced, having gone into shock. The doctors arrived and they grabbed Bartholomew and dragged him to the car. The soldiers piled into the car and it quickly drove away, leaving black smoke trailing behind.

…

The battle for the middle piece was fierce with both sides pushing to reach the center of the meteorite. The distance they needed to cover, was surprisingly short, partly due to the massive amount of black magic stored in the meteorite. However, the battle had to have a winner and the world seemed to hold their breath as Otto Evadeus closed his hand around the golden centerpiece.

**And there you go! A sort of cliffhanger like ending there! I hope you enjoyed this story and the second part will be coming soon! FF**


End file.
